


Return of Darkness

by UncommonVillian



Category: Brave (2012), Frozen (2013), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, F/M, Jedi, Mandalorians - Freeform, Sith, smugglers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2019-10-26 14:32:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17747645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UncommonVillian/pseuds/UncommonVillian
Summary: Star Wars/Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen DragonsA new darkness is rising in the galaxy. It's up to a ragtag group to help combat it and save the galaxy from the Dark Side once again.





	1. Prologue

**_Outside the Ison Corridor_ **

    North looked out the window of his shuttle into the gas cloud that lit up the corridor, thinking about what he had just done. He left the safety of the Core Worlds behind him and was now bringing not only himself, but his loyalest of comrades, some Wookiees and Jawas and, most of all, his young apprentice, Jack. He saw so much talent in Jack, but due to his rambunctious antics and the fact that he all but refused to conform to the Jedi Code, despite being raised in it, the Council saw him as a threat and was ready to cast him out alone into the galaxy. North raised the boy, and despite the rule of no attachments, North refused to let the boy be on his own. Jack was like a son to him, there was no denying it, and he cared deeply for him. He agreed to let Jack leave the Jedi Order, and in return he gave up his place in the Jedi Council.

    Now, here he was, in the Outer Rim Territories and was now ready to take on the new journey for himself and his apprentice.

    “We just jump outta hyperspace, North?” someone with a thick accent asked from behind. Entering the cockpit was Aster, North’s Lepus comrade. Aster sat in the co-pilot seat and looked out the window, saying, “The Ison Corridor. Hope you don’t plan on training the boy on Hoth like you’ve always wanted.”

    “Not yet, old friend.” North responded. “His ability to use the Force to create ice needs to be nurtured, but he needs to understand the Force first. He still has much to learn.”

    North looked over to Aster and said, “It’s not too late, you know. I can land somewhere and get you back to the Republic.”

    “Hell no, North.” Aster responded, almost annoyed. Looking to North, he said, “I still owe you for the time you got me outta that mess on Ord Mantell.”

    “That was nothing. You were a respected teacher on Coruscant. They’d allow you back.”

    “North, I’m not arguing the point with you. Where ever you’re going, I’m right there.” Aster turned to start working the shuttle’s controls. He said, “Plus, with the way that boy is, you’re gonna need a lot of help.”

    North chuckled and looked back out the window. Despite him wishing Aster and his other Jedi companions would return to Coruscant, he was thankful they were there. There was a long road ahead of them.

    Jack also had along journey ahead of him as well. He was a tough young boy, but he was just beginning his way in the Jedi teachings. There’s still much for him to learn and North wasn’t sure if the boy can handle it. He wanted what was best for him, but he wasn’t going to put a massive strain on him.

    North stood up from his seat and walked out of the cockpit. Walking past all his companions, loyal Wookiees, Jawas he saved from Sand People, former Jedi Masters Toothiana and Sanderson, all doing their fair share of work on the ship, while his apprentice rested. He entered Jack’s private quarters, the boy sleeping on his bunk.

    North smiled as his apprentice slept his troubles away. Even in the most tense of moments, Jack could just be as carefree as possible. That’s something that he always admired about Jack. North was about to let him sleep when the child stirred from his slumber.

    “Master?” Jack moaned as he wiped his eyes. He groggily looked up at North and asked, “Where are we, Master?”

    North walked over and sat down next to Jack. Brushing the boy’s hair, North said, “We’re in the Ison Corridor. Just rest now.”

    “But I wanna see the gas cloud.” Jack replied, energy slowly returning to his voice.

    North smiled again and started to use the technique Sanderson taught him to help Jack fall back to sleep. As Jack began to doze back off to sleep, North told him, “Go back to sleep, Jack.” Finally, Jack drifted back to sleep. Pulling the covers back onto Jack, North said, “You have a long road ahead of you. You should get as much rest as you can now.”

    North stood up, went back to the door and was ready to close it. Before he did, he gave Jack one more glance. He was hoping his student was up to this new life.

* * *

 

 

**_Naboo_ **

     

    Elsa pretended to sleep as she listened to her parents talk outside her door. It had been two months since… _that_ happened but it still felt like it happened just yesterday and Elsa could still feel the pain from it all. Her parents’ words didn’t help at all.

    “Do you think this is wise?” her mother asked. “It’s been two months and it’s only getting worst. Maybe Grand Pabbie was wrong about-”

    “This is for the best, dear.” Elsa’s father said. “We need to help her conceal her powers. If the Jedi get wind of this, they’ll take her away. We’d never see her again.”

    There was a moment of silence between her parents, but Elsa held back her sobs of fear. She hated being locked away, but she would dread the idea of the Jedi taking her away from her family, taking her away from Anna.

    “Maybe you’re right, but it doesn’t seem fair.” her mother said.

    “We have no choice.”

    “Yes, we do. But this isn’t the right one.”

    There was the sound of the footsteps leaving her room and Elsa finally cried out. She buried her face into her pillow and sobbed loudly. She continued for several minutes until she finally looked up. She looked over to the window and climbed out of bed. She walked over to the window and placed her hands on the windowsill. She looked out to the mass prairies and marshes. She just couldn’t help but think that she’ll never see them again, never play in them with Anna.

    Under her hands, the windowsill began to frost up. She pulled her hands back like the frost burned her. She gasped and began to breath heavily. The only thing she could think to do was to go back to bed. She crawled under her covers and just looked up at the ceiling.

    Down the hallway, Anna just tossed and turned in her bed. For two months, she tried to adjust to life without Elsa, but it was impossible. The two were close, but for some strange reason, her and Elsa were separated. She missed Elsa deeply. Everyday, she would knock on Elsa’s door and asked her to come out and play, only to fall on deaf ears or have Elsa tell her to go away.

    Why wouldn’t she tell her? Did she do something wrong? She just wanted her sister back. Whatever she did wrong, Anna had forgiven her. She just wanted her life to return to the way it was so she wasn’t alone anymore.

    She wish she could just sneak into Elsa’s room and just beg her to play like they use to. She would give anything for it. Just one chance, that’s all she wanted.

     

    Miles away, high in the mountains, there was a small coven of what was called the Rock Trolls, small creatures that were made of stones that walked and talked like people, but would turn to small boulders when dormant. They were lead by the chieftain named Grand Pabbie, the oldest and most powerful and wisest of all the trolls. What many people didn’t realize was because he made sure he hid it well, he wasn’t well. He hadn’t been well for a long time, and since he was powerful in the Force, he maintained his illusion. But he needed to live long enough to witness something he had waited centuries for. He could maintain his strength, but for only for at least a decade or two, his only hope was that he could keep his strength up for that long.

    Looking over his coven, he looked to the newest member, a young human orphan that one of his tribe had adopted named Kristoff. He appeared two months ago when the King and Queen of the land of Arendelle arrived with their daughters. Elsa, their eldest was born with a powerful gift. She was strong in the Force, but she could only use it to manipulate ice and snow. However, she accidentally hurt her sister Anna while using it. Grand Pabbie managed to heal Anna and remove all memories of Elsa’s abilities from her mind. In his time of learning about the Force, Grand Pabbie warned Elsa that her power must be controlled and that fear will be her enemy. In response, he agreed with her parents that she should be cut off from the world until she could maintain control. Despite his warning, he could sense much fear from her.

    Pulling himself from his thoughts, Grand Pabbie caught a glimmer of light out of the corner of his eye. He looked into the distance, seeing the specks of light fly up from the distant land across the sea, the land of Corona. He knew all to well what those lights were. It was five years ago that the Princess of Corona was abducted. Ever since, on the girl’s birthday, the people of Corona would light lanterns and they would soar to the skies above. He remembered when it happened, he could sense a dark presence in the lands, but after the princess disappeared, it vanished.

     

    Out in the forests of Corona, there stood one single tower, hidden in a small meadow. Looking out a large window, a young girl with long, shimmering golden hair looked out at the lanterns. She watched them, a dreamy look in her eyes. All her life, she only knew this tower. She longed to leave and see the lanterns up close, but she was forbidden by her mother.

    The girl was suddenly surprised by the sound of hissing and the bright red light behind her. She turned to the source of the light, a lightsaber being held up by a tall hooded figure standing at the top of the staircase that lead to the bedrooms. After the girl turned to face her, the figure lower the lightsaber and puller her hood back, revealing a dark haired woman, giving the girl a stern look.

    “Rapunzel, what are you doing up so late?” the woman asked, deactivating her lightsaber. “I thought you were an intruder and it’s way past your bedtime.”

    “I’m sorry, Mother Gothel.” the girl softly said, standing up. “I just wanted-”

    “It’s late, Rapunzel. Go to bed, now. We’ll talk in the morning.”

    “Coming, mother.” Rapunzel said as she started to walk towards the stairs, but stopped to turn to look back out the window. She watched the lanterns start to fade out, almost like her hope.

    “Rapunzel, now!” Gothel called from the room.

    “Coming, mother!” Rapunzel came running up the stairs and into her bedroom.

* * *

 

 

 

**_Concord Dawn_ **

    In the fields where two large carriers docked, two Mandalorian clans approached one another. One, Clan Haddock lead by the feared Stoick the Vast, all had their trademark horns on their helmets and wore animal furs on their beskar armor. The opposite clan, Clan Dunbroch lead by Fergus, all wore flannel kilts with their uniforms with matching sashes and, like Clan Haddock, wore furs as trophies. Stoik and Fergus ordered their clansmen to stay put while the two men approached one another. Once they were face to face, they both took off their helmets.

    “Fergus.” Stoick greeted without emotion.

    “Stoik.”Fergus returned in similar fashion. “Been a while.”

    “Not since the Great Hunt, Fergus.” Stoick looked to Clan Dunbroch, all of them ready to draw their weapons. His attention turned to a woman holding a small red headed girl behind her. The girl looked back at him in fear. Stoick looked back to Fergus and asked, “The little one yours?”

    “Aye, that she is.” Fergus looked to Clan Haddock and noticed Stoick’s wife also holding a child behind her. Fergus took a moment to observe the boy before turning back to Stoick and saying, “Your boy looks just like you when you were his age.”

    “He’s got a long way to go, but I trust him to make a fine soldier.”

    “Like my little lass.”

    After the two stood for a moment, serious looks on their faces like a battle between them was about to begin, the two men laughed and embraced.

    “It’s been too long, old friend!” Stoick laughed.

    “Indeed!” Fergus said as he broke the embrace and jostled Stoick’s shoulder. “Heard all about your adventures in the galaxy and all I keep thinking is, ‘That bloke’s having all the fun without me!’”

    “Well,” Stoick gave an embarrassed look and said, “after losing the Great Hunt to that ogre didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth so I decided to leave my own impact on the galaxy.”

    “Oh, don’t be so down on yourself, Stoick. You gave it your all.” Fergus gave Stoick’s family another glance and told him, “What I’m really glad to see is that you took on a family. Family’s important, you know.”

    “Indeed.” Looking to his son, he said, “Hiccup’s going to be a strong leader, I just know it.”

    “I have the same feeling about Merida.” Fergus looked to his daughter. “She’s headstrong for her age and she’s too much like me.”

    “You say that as if it’s a good thing.” Stoick joke, earning a laugh from Fergus. Both men ordered their clans to come join them. All members of each clan greeted each other with embraces. While everyone carried on, Stoick called out, “To this day, Clans Dunbroch and Haddock are forever allies!”

    This caused everyone to give the ancient Mandalorian cheer, “OYA!”

    Stoick turned to his son and patted him on the back, “Hiccup, I want you to meet, Fergus. He’s an old friend of mine.”

    Nervous and shy, young Hiccup looked up at the tower man. He was slightly shorter than his own father, but he was built the same. Hiccup gulped and greeted, “Nice to meet you, sir.”

    “Nice to meet you, sonny! Oh!” Fergus took his daughter’s hand and directed her to Hiccup and introduced her, “Hiccup, this is Merida. Merida, this is Hiccup and his father, Stoick. He’s daddy’s oldest friend.”

    “Nice to meet ya!” Merida cheered, reaching her hand out to Hiccup. Hiccup was taken aback by her outgoing personality, but he took her hand. He then felt her pull on his hand and she cheered, “C’mon! I wanna show you our ship!”

    “Whoa!” Hiccup cried out as she pulled him towards their ship.

    “Merida, take it easy on the boy!” Merida’s mother Elinor called out, her words falling of deaf ears.

    However, everyone watching them knew that Merida had made a new friend. With the alliance of two clans, there was a new beginning.


	2. Chapter 1

    Gothel never really cared for Rapunzel as a person, but she knew that her young ward had a powerful talent hidden in her. In their isolation, Gothel tried to hone in on Rapunzel’s talents, but she knew the Jedi were looking her and if they found Rapunzel, all she tried to accomplish would be for nothing. She needed to keep their presence hidden and that was making it harder to train Rapunzel. She took Rapunzel from her cradle when she was just a new born, a princess to the Naboo kingdom of Corona, sensing the Force within her. Gothel snatched her and took her away into the forest. Though the seeker droids scanned the area, their tower was concealed in an uncharted box canyon and for many years, they remained hidden.

    Due to her caution, Gothel had no choice but to only teach Rapunzel in the basics of the Force, manipulation, grip, understanding what the Force was. She knew if she started Rapunzel off in ways of the Dark Side, then Rapunzel, due to her bubbly nature, would eventually reveal their location and the Jedi would come running. At the very least, Gothel trained Rapunzel in lightsaber combat. That’s what puzzled Gothel the most, the way Rapunzel’s lightsaber is. She grew a synthetic crystal for Rapunzel and let her amplify it’s power. The girl’s lightsaber, not as Gothel hoped, came out yellow, almost matching her hair, but that wasn’t the strangest thing. The blade wasn’t rigid, it was a whip. One would think that it would be impossible to control, but Rapunzel manipulated the Force to weave the whip to her will. She used it to coil around herself without touching her, she would levitate it and let it slither around, but she was proficient with it. She could best Gothel in lightsaber training.

    The one thing that Rapunzel was really known for was her ability to use the Force to heal. Gothel had a few injuries over the years, some serious, but Rapunzel used her abilities to heal her. Gothel was impressed, but this wasn’t what she wanted from her student, now it was time.

    Gothel was combing Rapunzel’s hair as the two sat in the living room of their tower. Rapunzel wanted to let her hair grow over the years, not that Gothel cared. Gothel let it grow because she didn’t want to deal with Rapunzel’s whining. Today was a special day for Rapunzel, more for Gothel though.

    “Rapunzel, you’re being awfully quiet.” Gothel said as she continued to brush Rapunzel’s hair.

    “I’m sorry, Mother. It’s just…”Rapunzel went quiet for a moment. After collecting her thoughts, she said, “Well, tomorrow’s my birthday and-”

    “I thought you birthday last year.” Gothel replied snarky.

    “That’s the thing, Mother. It’s kind of an annually thing.” Rapunzel nervously said. She was about to continue her request, but Gothel cut her off again.

    “Well, whatever you have to tell me can wait until later. I have a pleasant news for you, my dear.”

    “Pleasant news?” Rapunzel asked looking back up at Gothel.

    “Yes, tomorrow we’re going to be leaving this tower.”

    “Tomorrow?” Rapunzel didn’t know what to think. She spent her entire life in this tower, knowing very little about the outside world, but she didn’t even get a chance to offer her request. Pretending to be excited, she asked. “Well, where are we going?”

    Putting the comb away, Gothel told her, “Ah, ah, it’s a surprise.”

    Rapunzel didn’t like that. Not knowing where they were going, she began to feel her hope for her request dash away.

    “Well, Mother, I was just wondering.” Rapunzel was still hoping for the best. “Since tomorrow’s my birthday, I was hoping for-”

    “Rapunzel, have you been practicing your whip skills?” Gothel cut her off again, talking like she wasn’t paying attention.

    “I did, but-”

    “How about you skills in the Force?”

    “Yes, but-”

    “Then let’s go and-”

    “I want to see the lights tomorrow!” Rapunzel gave Gothel a hopeful smile.

    Surprised by Rapunzel’s sudden request. Looking at her for a moment, Gothel asked, “What lights, Rapunzel?”

    Rapunzel turn to look over their fireplace, reach out and used the Force to pull the certain back, revealing a mural of starry lights ascending the horizon to the night sky. Rapunzel said, “Every night on my birthday, these lights fill the night sky. Mother, I need to see them. There’s something in the Force telling me that they’re meant for me.”

    Gothel feared this day, the day that she would get too obsessed with these lights. Gothel knew all to well what they were, lanterns that lit up the night sky by the people of Corona, hoping that the Lost Princess would one day return. Hoping that Rapunzel would return. Gothel was determined to make sure Rapunzel would remain under her control, but she was always a defiant girl. She had plans for Rapunzel tomorrow, and she was going to see them through.

    Giving Rapunzel a stern look that make the girl stand in excitement to quiver in fear, Gothel told her, “Rapunzel, we’re not just leaving this tower tomorrow, we’re leaving the Naboo system.”

    “But-”

    “We are leaving so I can give you proper training on a moon where no one can find us, and you’re concerned about some lights?”

    “But Mother, I can feel the Force calling me.” Rapunzel pleaded. “I know that there’s something more for me.”

    Gothel was beginning to get annoyed. She decided to play the master again and asked Rapunzel, “Do you really think the Force would want you to seek out something as mundane as some lights? Look further, reach out.”

    Rapunzel agreed, maybe Gothel was right. Maybe there was more to her than just some lights. The Force wouldn’t call her for some lights. There had to be something more, so she took her mother’s advice and reached out.

    Rapunzel closed her eyes, blocked off all senses and began to reach out with the Force. The world around her vanished and she entered into the world of the Force. There was darkness, nothing around her. Then, the lights she desperately sought reached up from beneath her feet and slowly wrapped around her. She reached up and felt their warmth on her fingertips. She still needed to see them, they were calling to her.

    Then, there was the sound of lightsabers clashing. She looked to where they were and saw her mother, her crimson lightsaber in hand. She was fighting someone else with a lightsaber, but it was a color she never saw before. They were fighting her with a blue lightsaber, and it was a saberstaff. She knew this was just a vision, but there was something odd about it. In the vision, she was hoping the person fighting her mother would win.

    The vision faded away, then there was the sound of blaster fire. She turned toward the sound and saw a group of armored soldiers. Their armor was scaled, varied in color and their helmets had horns. One of them had a mechanical leg. What made their appearance stand out was the T-shaped visor on their helmets. She watched as the jettisoned away with their jetpacks high into the air. They deactivated them, then, to Rapunzel’s amazement, they landed on a school of Krayt Dragons, all of different breeds. The leader, the one with the mechanical leg, was riding a Night Fury. She smiled up at them as the vision faded away.

    Then there was another vision, this time of a single warrior. She was armored just like the ones in her previous vision, except hers was sleeker and didn’t have horns. Her suit was equipped with weapon bracers, a green sash going across her chest, matching kilt and had the same T-shaped visor. Sticking out the back of the helmet was long, unruly red hair. In her hands was a blaster, a bowcaster. She was storming through a forest until she knelt down and fired her blaster into the distance, giving a loud shout as she did.

    Another vision, this time of a young women with platinum blonde hair. She was dressed in a light blue compression suit that was covered in a white tunic, white leather bracers and boots. She had a transparent cloak that draped over her shoulders. She motioned her hands in a circular motion and white sparkles formed in the center of them, then threw her hands up, a pillar of snow shooting to the sky.

    Then there was the final vision. Walking out of the darkness was a tall young man, thin with brown hair. He slowly approached her with a caring look in his eyes. When he reached her, he held his hand out and caressed her cheeks. Rapunzel felt content with the touch and she reached up to caress his chin, brushing her fingers over his goatee.

    “Well, what did you see?”

    Gothel’s words brought Rapunzel out of her vision, the girl opening her eyes. Rapunzel never felt so alive at that moment. All those people she saw, the Force was calling her to them. She realized that she had more than just the lights to seek out.

    “I…” Rapunzel gasped, smiling in realization. “I have more of a purpose.”

    Gothel smiled and said, “Good! Now you can stop worrying about some silly lights and we can move on.”

    Rapunzel turned to her and was ready to explain her vision, but Gothel just walked away to their bedrooms.

    Despite all that, Rapunzel knew that one way or another, she was leaving this tower.

* * *

    A small carrier flew over the North Mountains towards Arendelle. It was a passenger ship that was bringing many guests to witness the coronation of the new queen, Elsa. Among them, locking himself in his room, was Jack Frost. He sat in the middle of his room, meditating. He was reaching out, keeping his focus on the task at hand. For many months, he was on the hunt and he was closing in. Meditating, he tried to seek out the possible outcome of this endeavor, hoping that all these months of searching for his target would come to a close. He knew what he had to do.

    While meditating, he heard voices, crying, a girl calling for her parents. He heard people talking, asking about powers and an older man telling someone about controlling them. Then he felt fear and pain. He was sensing the Dark Side. Maybe this was the darkness he was searching for.

    “ _Somebody help me…_ ”

    The voice of the young woman entered his mind. He heard, no, felt desperation, fear, sorrow. All the pain in her voice made him feel sorrow for her. He didn’t see her face, but he knew his destiny was drawing him to her. He needed to help her.

    “Attention passengers, we will be arriving at Arendelle on three minutes. All passengers are requested to depart in an orderly fashion.”

    The intercom woke him from his meditation and he took a deep breath. He stood up and reached for his bed, his lightsaber flying off it and into his hand. Clipping it to his belt, he left his room to join the crowd leaving the ship.

    After the ship landed, the entire ship exited into the port, Jack pulling the hood to his blue tabard over his head. When he stepped out into the sun he looked about the village. Everyone was happy. He hadn’t seen this many people happy in a long, it made him feel happy. He smiled as children ran past him, laughing and carrying on. It always did his heart well to see children having fun.

    In his time of observing the people celebrating, he began to feel the disturbance he felt in his meditation. He looked its direction, the direction of Arendelle Castle. He watched as aristocrats and regal dressed people cross the bridge over the fjord towards the castle. Knowing he had a mission, he just followed them. He had hoped to discover who it was in pain while hunting his target. Blending in with the crowd, he was able to slip into the castle without attracting the guards.

* * *

 

    Corona was in an uproar. In the absence of the King and Queen, the crown of the Lost Princess was stolen right out from beneath the royal guards and the hunt was on for the culprits. The only person dumb enough to actually attempt to steal an item like this from the royal family was none other than smuggler Flynn Rider, one of the most wanted men in the Outer Rim Territories. Fortunately for him and his accomplices, he had a head start.

    Miles away from the village, into the forest, Rider and his partners, the Stabbington Brothers, both ran as far as they could go before needing to rest. Leaning against a tree, Rider looked up at the sheets of paper nailed to it. He didn’t like what he saw.

    “Oh no!” He gasped, pulling his wanted poster off the tree. “This bad, this is very, very bad! This is really bad!” He showed the Stabbington Brothers his crudely drawn picture and said, “They just can’t get my nose right!”

    “Who cares?” one of the brothers asked.

    “Well that’s easy for you to say!” He pointed to their poster and said, “You guys look amazing.”

    Their rest was interrupted by the sound of the guards catching up with them. They made a ran for it until they were caught up in a small box canyon.

    Rider scanned the canyon wall and said, “Alright, okay. Gimme a boost and I’ll pull you up.”

    The brothers looked at him and one of them told him, “Give us the satchel first.”

    Shocked by the distrust, Flynn stammered and said, “I can’t believe that after all we’ve been through together, you still don’t trust me?” Both of the brothers glared at him. He responded “Ouch” before handing them the satchel.

    The brothers stood on each others shoulder as Flynn climbed up them and up the canyon wall. He made it to the top with little hassle.

    “Now help us up, pretty boy!” one of the brothers ordered as he held his had up.

    Flynn held the satchel out, picking it from them as he climbed up, and said, “Sorry, my hands are full.” With that, he ran off, leaving them behind in the canyon.

    The guards were closing in, but sliding down a steep cliff, he managed to escape them. As he tried to maintain his footing, he placed his hand on a rock wall covered in ivy, only for his hand to go right through it. This startled him, but due to the sound of seeker droids closing in, he had no choice but to slip into the wall of ivy to escape them. He hid and stood still as he listened to the hums of the droids go by. When they started to fade, he knew he was safe. He went deeper into the cave, only to come out into an opening.

    Flynn was amazed by the meadow that he exited into. It was closed in by rock walls and had a waterfall pouring into the pond, but what really caught his eye was the tower. It was the only structure in the meadow and it looked old, like Old Republic old. Hearing the seeker droids returning, he had no choice but to see refuge inside the tower.

    Pulling out climbing spikes out of his utility pouch, he began to climb the stone masonry of the tower. He reached the top and frantically climbed into the window of the highest level and closed it. Catching his breath, he slipped the satchel strap off his shoulder, opened it to look at the crown and said with a joyful smile, “Alone at last.”

    Then, with the sound of metallic ring, something clashed against his head and he fell unconscious. Standing behind him was Rapunzel. She stood over him with a frying pan in her hand and stared down at him in panic, only to squeal and run to hide behind a sewing mannequin.


	3. Chapter 2

    Coming out of hyperspace over Naboo was dark green frigate, painted with the insignia of both Clan Dunbrock and Clan Haddock on bow of the ship. Inside the hanger bay were many small fighters and a medium sized Hammerhead corvette, painted with a mixture of green and brown. Maintaining the bay were an armada of Mandalorians, Clans Dunbrock and Haddock together. Both clans maintained their alliance for many years, after their leaders, Stoick Haddock and Fergus Dunbroch joined forces. They were one of the few Mandalorian groups that maintained the code of the Journeymen Protectors and would often take up hunts or mercenary jobs for more honorable causes. This mission was lead by the children of both clan leaders, Stoick’s son Hiccup and Fergus’ daughter Merida.

    This mission was called upon the emissary of Corona in the place of the King and Queen since they were visiting the Kingdom of Arendelle to witness the coronation of their new queen. The mission was simple: locate the thieves of the Crown of the Lost Princess. It didn’t seem too hard and Hiccup and Merida with Hiccup’s girlfriend agreed to do the hunt themselves.

    Looking over the holograms of the thieves, Flynn Rider and the Stabbington Brothers, Merida told Hiccup, “Looks like Rider’s at it again.”

    “Yeah, and this time we grab him.” Hiccup told her. Looking to Astrid and the rest of his team, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the Thorston twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and told them all, “The King and Queen put a heavy price on Rider’s head. We bring him in alive, they’ll be plenty to go around.”

    “Yeah, let’s get the smuggler scum!” Snotlout cheered as the team charged for the Hammerhead, leaving Astrid, Hiccup and Merida to stroll towards it.

    “Everyone’s all set for this hunt, huh?” Astrid asked.

    “Well, it’s been a while since we’ve had a worthy hunt.” Hiccup said. “Beats just picking us Rodians skimming from the casinos on Nar Shaddaa.”

    “Aye and it’s been a while since we came across Rider.” Merida added. “He’s lucky he’s wanted alive or I’d blast him to oblivion for what he did on Ord Mantel.”

    “I can’t believe you’re still sore from that.” Astrid chuckled.

    “You’re damn straight I am! Bloody nerf herder left me in that trash compactor! Took me days to wash that smell off.”

    “Well, the money we make from this hunt will more than make up for it.” Hiccup commented.

    Merida smirked, nudged Hiccup’s shoulder and said, “Aye! And maybe you two will finally get hitched.”

    Both Astrid and Hiccup bashfully chuckled as the three walked up the ramp of the Hammerhead. Ever since the two began their relationship, Merida, being Hiccup’s oldest friend, was always extremely supportive, but would take the opportunity to poke fun at the two. Before they entered the ship, a large, black reptile flew next to the ramp and began to follow them. They turned to it and Hiccup said, “No, no, buddy. You wait here, okay?”

    The Krayt Dragon lowered itself as it whimpered with disapproval. Hiccup walked down to it and caressed its snout, telling him, “Don’t worry, Toothless. We’ll be back in no time. Okay, buddy?”

    The dragon perked up and licked his face, causing him to chuckle. Toothless crawled off the ramp, spreed its wings and hovered away to watch the ship take off.

    Merida, Hiccup and Astrid entered the cockpit of the ship, slipped their helmets on and took their seats. Working the controls, Astrid started the ship. Hiccup powered the thrusters and the ship slowly lifted off the ground and steered towards the bay doors. The ship then took off out into space and descended to the planet below.  


* * *

 

    The sun was setting and the coronation was over. All of the aristocracy of were gathering in the ballroom of Arendelle Castle, waiting for the Queen to join them. Unbeknownst to them, she was in her room upstairs, trying to calm herself. She nearly lost control again. She hadn’t been in front of such a large crowd in so long, it was beyond terrifying. Things could have gone out of control fast, but she was thankful the ceremony was short.

    She just wished her parents were here to guide her. It felt like an eternity since their ship was shot down by pirates outside the Rishi Maze, but it still hurt her to this day. All throughout her years growing up that she tried to control her powers, to please them and make sure that she remained the perfect girl they wanted. Without them, she felt lost.

    The only family she had left was Anna, but she had forbade herself from seeing her. Ever since the incident when they were really little, Elsa vowed to stay away from Anna to keep her safe. Throughout the years, she could count how many times she saw her little sister on one hand, excluding today during the coronation. She hoped it stayed that way.

    But still, Anna grew up to be a strong, lovely young woman. Elsa couldn’t help but feel pride for her younger sister. Despite all her worries, she took one look at Anna and was extremely happy to see her. Seeing her little sister grow into someone who could take care of herself made he feel all the more proud. Anna deserved so much better than what she was given growing up, and Elsa stood in shame.

    There was a knock at the door and a maid called out to her, “Your highness, the party is starting. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

    “I’ll be right down.” Elsa called out.

    She didn’t want to go, but she had no choice. To muster up her strength, she took a deep breath and gave a look out her window, down towards where the ballroom was. She could see the lights from the windows and was preparing herself for her introduction. Yet, despite her fears, she had another feeling. She felt like someone was looking up at her from the room. She tried to look down, but the room was so far away, she couldn’t make out a single figure.

    Down in the ballroom, looking out the window and up to the room where Elsa was, was Jack. He could still sense that presence. Not knowing it was her, he could sense Elsa’s fear and desperation. It was suffocating him. Not once had he felt such pain and suffering in his life. He wanted to break from the party and seek her out and try to help her, but he didn’t want to cause suspicious, plus he had a mission.

    He then felt someone bump into him. He looked over and saw a young woman with red hair wearing a royal dress.

    “Oop, I’m sorry!” she chirped, jumping back.

    “Oh, it’s no problem.” he reassured her with a smile.

    She looked smiled up at him, then scanned his attire. With excitement, she gasped, “Wow! You’re a Jedi, aren’t you? I’ve heard all kinds of stories about you guys! Well, not that there are only guy Jedi, I’m sure there are lady Jedi too, it’s just a figure of expression, but I’m sure you guessed that.”

    Jack chuckled awkwardly to the woman’s banter, telling her, “It’s quite alright.” A protocol droid went past them and he grabbed a drink from its tray. He offered it to her.

    “Oh, thank you!” She said as she took it from him. She took a sip and said, “Wow, these are surprisingly cool for being out on a tray.” After taking another sip, she asked him, “What’s your name?”

    “My name?” Jack asked. “Frost. Jack Frost.”

    “Well Jack Frost, my name is Anna, Princess of Arendelle.” she introduced herself, holding out her hand. He took it and the two shoock hands. But there was something strange in his touch. She said to him, “Jack, your hand is ice cold!”

    “I know.” he reassured her.

    “But it’s summer!”

    He let her hand go and said, “The Force effects us all differently.”

    Then it hit her. Her drink.

    “You chilled my drink?” she asked him.

    Not afraid to show off, Jack held his hand up and sparks of ice flakes shot up from his fingertips. He then held held his hand close to his face, blew into his hand and a snowball formed in his palm. Anna gasped then smiled in astonishment at Jack’s abilities.

    Then she gave him a confused look. This didn’t go unnoticed.

    Crushing the snowball in his hand, Jack asked Anna, “What’s wrong?”

    “I don’t know what it is,” she said quietly. “but there’s something familiar about your abilities. I…I think, I don’t know, but I think I’ve seen that before.”

    Jack softly nodded and said, “I wish it were so, but I’m the only one who can use the Force like this. I’ve searched the entire galaxy for anyone who could, but I found no one. I guess I’m alone with this.”

    Anna didn’t know how to console him, she just told him, “I’m sorry, Jack.”

    “It’s okay.” he muttered. He decided to change the subject, to something he needed to know to make him feel better, “May I ask a question, Princess?”

    “Of course!” she said. “Also, you can call me Anna.”

    “Okay, Anna.” he chuckled at her formality. He never met a princess like her. “I was just curious. Is there someone upstairs?”

    Thinking for a second, she told him, “So far the only people I can think of are the maids, some of the guards and my sister.”

    “Your sister? The queen?”

    “Yes.”

    “I see.”

    “Why do you ask?”

    “I was…I was just curious.”

    Jack looked back out the window and up at where he was looking earlier. The queen, the feeling he was sensing the whole time, it had to have been her. But why?

    Shaking his head, he said to Anna, “I’m sorry for holding you up. This is your party and I’m holding you up.”

    “Oh, it’s really no problem!” she reassured him. “I’ve never spoken with a Jedi before! Maybe when my sister comes down, I can introduce her to you.”

    “I’d like that.” Jack said with a smile, hoping to get close to her. He wanted to know what was causing her so much pain. He wanted to help her.

    Yet, he still had a mission to complete.

    “Queen Elsa of Arendelle!” the liaison called out to the crowd. Walking up to the small stage was Elsa.

    “Oh, I have to go!” Anna panicked as she placed her drink on the windowsill. Before running up to the stage, she quietly told Jack, “Let me go up with my sister and I’ll bring her right over!” With that, she ran up to the stage, Jack chortling at her nervousness.

    He then looked up at Elsa as she greeted the room with a smile. He was mesmerized. She was beautiful. He looked up at her, awestruck by her. She stood there, calm and dignified, but he could sense much fear from her. She was what he sensing this whole time. Her beauty made him want to help her more.

    Anna stood next to her and he watched the two talk. From Anna’s motions and Elsa’s nervousness indicated the two haven’t talked much. Jack found that odd since Anna was such an outgoing person and he would have figured that the two would be thick as thieves. He needed to know more, so he squeezed past the crowd and up the the stage.

    As he stood close to the stage, he noticed a short, thin older man offering to dance with Elsa. He then gyrated about before bowing before the two sisters, his hairpiece peeled down, causing Anna, Elsa and Jack to hold back their laughter.

    As the man stood back up, Elsa cleared her throat and said, “Thank you, only I don’t dance.” She then glanced mischievous at Anna and said, “But my sister does.”

    Anna laughed it off, but the older man took her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor, despite Anna’s protests.

    As Anna was pulled away, Elsa gave her a small wave and muttered, “Sorry.”

    “I find it hard to believe that you don’t dance.”

    Elsa looked over and watched as Jack walked up and stood before her.

    “And you are, sir?” the liaison asked.

    Not looking away from Elsa, Jack gave her a bright smile and introduced himself, “My name is Jack Frost. I’m a friend of Princess Anna.”

    Elsa was immersed in his smile, causing her heart to flutter a bit. She smiled lightly at him as he gave her a curtsy.

    “Well, um.” Elsa was dumbstruck by Jack’s charming demeanor. She never felt this way before, she was embarrassed. It didn’t help that when Jack looked back up at her, he looked right into her eyes. She was lost in them. She finally regained control of herself and said, “Well, Mr Frost, any friend of Anna’s is a friend of mine.”

    “I’m glad to hear. And please, call me Jack.”

    Elsa felt her cheeks heat up and her heart rate went up.

    “Let me know when you’re ready for another round, m’lady!” the two of them heard the man who Anna danced with called out. Jack and Elsa looked to see Anna limping towards the stage.

    Elsa chuckled at Anna and said, “Well, he was sprightly.”

    “Especially for a man in heels.” Anna groaned as she rubbed her ankles. She noticed Jack standing there and asked, “Oh, you two met! That’s great!”

    “Yes, I understand that you two are friends?” Elsa asked.

    “Well, you can say that. We just met.” Anna said. “But he’s really nice and he’s a Jedi so...!”

    “Actually, I have a confession to make.” Jack said nervously. “I was a Jedi, but not anymore.”

    “Well, what happened?” Elsa asked, her voice full of curiosity.

    “It’s a long story.”

    “I’d love to hear it.”

    Anna noticed something with Elsa, something different. She was actually trying to socialize with someone. And the way she was looking at Jack.

     _Is Elsa…attracted to him?_ Anna asked herself. She cleared her throat and said, “Well, I’ll leave you two alone for now.” Anna said, sliding away from Elsa. She stood next to Jack, grabbed him by the shoulders and said, “I’m sure Jack’s got lots of stories to tell.”

    “Oh, well, I guess.” Jack stammered as he watched as Anna walked back onto the ballroom floor. He looked back up at Elsa and she was looking down at him in anticipation.

     _What am I doing?_ He asked himself. _I have a mission to complete. I can’t just stop and tell stories. Especially to the Queen, who has more important work to do and I-_

    She gave him another anticipated look. He caved in, “Very well, where should I begin?”


	4. Chapter 3

     _How did I get myself into this?_

    That kept playing over and over again in Rider’s mind. Here he was, out in the forest just outside Arendelle, lost, it’s getting dark and he had a panicking girl with him. He wasn’t in the brightest of moods at the moment. The day started out normal for him, then it started to slowly transition to odd, to beyond bizarre, to horrible, to just downright, as he would but it, just not worth it.

    He woke up after being knocked out by his companion, her pet chameleon, Pascal, sticking his tongue in Rider’s ear, only to find that not only was he tied to a chair, but tied up with long blonde hair. Her hair. He tried to smooth his way out, but the young lady was immune to his charm. Then she bargains with him. She hid his satchel containing the crown he stole and told him he could have it back if she agreed to take her and Pascal to Corona to see the lanterns and bring her back. He agreed, but that was only the beginning of it all.

    After stepping out of the tower, the girl, Rapunzel, had mixed emotions for a whole hour straight. Half the time she was worried about leaving the tower, Rider getting the impression that she really didn’t get out much. The rest of the time she was ecstatic, cheering and swing around the trees. Rider had enough.

    Yet, despite her rather bi-polar attitude, when she broke down in tears, worrying that her mother would find out she left, Rider had a slight twing of sympathy for her. Not because she felt guilty, but because he felt that she was deprived of any life outside that tower growing up. He could tell she was free spirit, but she was caged up all her life. As much as he wanted to get his satchel back, he still couldn’t stop feeling sorry for her.

    As he tried to console her, much to his dismay, the Stabbington Brothers found them. They originally wanted just him, but Rapunzel insisted on letting him go. When they mentioned the satchel, she said she knew where it was. Rider constantly told her not to tell them, but either way they didn’t believe her. They instead captured her and Pascal along with him and locked them both in the back of delivery speeder.

    He didn’t know how long they were traveling, but she began to break down into tears. Once again, his greed faded to apathy. Hesitant at first, he crawled next to her and wrapped his arm around her and let her cry on his shoulder. He stroked her hair, running his fingers through her soft locks.

    She then gasped and realized something. Pascal crawled off her shoulder and into Rider’s hands. The cargo cabin of the speeder was big enough for her to stand up. She then unclipped her lightsaber from her belt. This was the first time he ever saw a lightsaber in action. However, what he saw he didn’t expect. She waved her arm back and threw he hand forward, activating her lightsaber. Instead of the blade he heard so much about, it was instead flaccid and it whipped forward against the latch of the lock, burning through the metal and the door flung open. She deactivated it and both her and Rider jumped out. Recovering from jumping out, the ducked down low and watch the speeder flew off into the forest.

    After looking around and looking at the landscape, Rider figured out they were near Arendelle, but he had no idea what direction to go. Agreeing that there was no point in waiting around all of them agreed to just start walking in one direction and hope to find something.

    After a while, Rapunzel started to cry again. Rider took her hand and sat her down on a log and let her cry.

    “Not easy, is it?” he asked her, rubbing her back.

    “This…This wasn’t what I had hoped.” she sobbed, wiping her eyes. “I brought this on you, because I was being selfish. Now we’re miles away from anywhere.”

    “Listen, we’ll get out of this.” he reassured her.

    She looked up at him with a sad smile. He smiled back at her trying to calm her down more.

    Then, he noticed the sound. Speeders, and they were close. He looked around and noticed a ridge near them. He told her to wait and went over to look out to the distance. He looked down the narrow slope and saw that the village of Arendelle was merely five miles away.

    “Hey, blondie!” he called out to her. She walked up to him and looked out to see the village. She gasped in excitement. He told her, “I’m sure I can barter with someone to get us back to Corona. We’ll get you to see the light tomorrow night.”

    She looked up at him and said, “Flynn, thank you.”

    Grinning back at her, he said, “Eugene.”

    “Hm?”

    “My name, it’s Eugene. Eugene Fitzherbert.”

    “I like that better.” she said with a dreamy look in her eyes. He began to trek down the slope, but she stood for a moment, deep in though. She called out to him and he stopped to look back at her. She reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out the crown. She told him, “I’m sorry, but I-”

    She felt Eugene touch her hand and lower it. The two looked at each other for a moment before Eugene said, “Hold onto it.”

    “O…Okay.” Within their short time together, he went from scoundrel to noble. She trusted him to tell him this, “Can I tell you something odd?”

    “What’s that?”

    “Earlier today, I had a vision. You were there.”

    He smirked and asked, “A vision?”

    “Yes, in the Force.”

    “So it’s more than just the lightsaber? Are you a Jedi?”

    “A Jedi?” she asked, she never heard the term before. Just letting it go, she continued, “Well, I’ve been trained in the Force and I’ve been attuned and I saw you in a vision. I think this was destiny. I think that-Eugene!”

    She looked down at his a hand and saw he had a large cut. He just took notice too.

    “Huh, must have happened when we were captured.” he said, rubbing the wound. It was still hurting so it stung to his touch.

    “Wait, wait, hold still.” she said, softly taking his hand. She began to wrap her hair around his hand. She took a breath and closed her eyes, focusing all her power into her hair. After a few seconds, her hair began to glow. Eugene stood in astonishment and watched the hair light up around his hand. He looked back and forth between his hand and Pascal, who was smiling up at him. Rapunzel released her breath and opened her eyes. Keeping her eyes on his hand, she unwrapped her hair from his hand and the cut was gone.

    Eugene held his hand up, examined it and began to panic.

    “Please don’t freak out!” Rapunzel begged.

    Holding back a scream, Eugene calmed down and reassured her that there was nothing wrong.

    Suddenly, they heard voices in the distance. Eugene told her to wait there and ran back into the forest. Hearing the voices come closer, he ducked behind a tree and looked off into the brush. What he saw terrified him more than the Stabbington Brothers.

     

    Mandalorians.

     

    Rapunzel waited for Eugene when he came running back out onto the slope.

    “Eugene, what’s wrong?” she asked.

    “Let’s go!” Eugene panicked as he took her hand and guided her down the slope towards Arendelle.

     

* * *

 

     

    “You spent three months on Hoth?” Elsa asked Jack as they strolled about the ballroom.

    “Yeah, my master wanted me to learn as much of the galaxy as I could.” Jack said.

    “Your master sounds like a great man.”

    “Yeah, he was.” Jack looked down with a sorrowful look.

    Elsa looked up at his face and asked, “What happened?”

    Jack stopped and said, “He was killed, along with everyone I grew up with.”

    Elsa gasped and said, “Jack, I’m so sorry!”

    Jack, looking back at her, gave a sad smile and said, “It’s…It’s okay.”

    Elsa looked away and began to stroll about again, telling Jack, “I understand what it’s like to lose someone important.”

    Maybe he can figure out what was causing her so much pain. He asked her, “What happened?”

    Gulping, Elsa told Jack, “A few years ago, my parents left for a diplomatic summit to the water moon of Atlantis. On the way, their ship was attacked by pirates. They didn’t make it.”

    “I’m so sorry.”

    “Thank you.” Elsa gave him a sorrowful smile. “For many years, they’ve been my only support with…a problem I have.”

    “What problem?”

    Elsa almost let it slip, but she had to tell Jack something.

     _What am I doing?_ She asked herself. _Why am I getting so flustered? We just met! I mean, he is very sweet and genuine, but I don’t even know him! I’m losing my head here and I nearly told him about my powers! What’s wrong with me?_

    “Well…” Elsa tried to think of something. “I…I guess I’m not as outgoing as I’d like to be. They tried to help me with that problem, but when they died, I felt so alone.”

    Jack could sense she was lying, but whatever she was hiding was hurting her deeply. It was tearing her apart and he needed to know.

    “You had Anna.” Jack told her. He caught a glimpse of a tear drip from her eye. He told himself, _Maybe I’m going too far._

    “I’m…sorry.” he told her.

    Looking up at him, she said, “No, no. It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

    “Still, I’m prying into something that isn’t my business. It’s just that…” Jack stopped and the two looked into each others eyes again. “Can I…May I say something?”

    “Of course.”

    “From the moment I stepped out onto the planet, I could sense pain coming from you. I hate to feel someone in so much pain. For as long I can remember, I’ve always hated that so much and I would go out of my way to try and fix it. But, I know that I’m crossing the line so-”

    “Jack, no!” she told him, astounded by his devotion. “Jack, I-I understand. That’s extremely sweet of you. You’re a good person, I just know it.”

    Jack chuckled and thanked her. He said to her, “I can tell that you don’t want to talk about it so I’ll leave it be.”

    Elsa, for the first time in a long time, smiled a true smile. He was being so kind to her. She never felt such care from anyone outside her family. He clearly wanted to help her, but didn’t want to push her any further. Elsa actually felt like a total stranger truly cared about her, not as the Queen, but as a person.

    “Well…” Elsa looked off bashfully. “maybe someday, when I have the courage, we can talk.”

    “I’d like that.” Jack softly told her.

    Her eyes naturally locked back with his. She was lost again, lost in his blue eyes. That voice was cursing her again, but she blocked it out. She was just so attracted to him.

    But her common sense got the better of her again. She needed to draw herself away from her emotions, remain calm and regain her composure. She needed to think of something, anything, to draw herself back into the real world.

    “Jack, I would like to hear more stories about your master.” she let her words smooth out.

    “Oh, um, sure.” Jack replied, stammering and just as flabbergast as her. He cleared his throat and said, “Well, I can say that he went down a hero.”

    “What happened?”

    “For months, we were tracking someone. He was a member of the Jedi Order named Pi-”

    “Wait, who is that with Anna?” Elsa asked, looking over Jack’s shoulder.

    The both of them watched as Anna entered the ballroom, a young man in a white regal jacket in tow. The two were laughing and carrying on. Elsa looked up at Jack and was about to say something, but the look Jack had on his face almost frightened her. It wasn’t his soft and caring complexion, it was anger.

    “Jack, what’s wrong?”

    “Call the guards, Elsa.” Jack said as he walked off into the crowd.

    “Jack? Jack!”

    “Elsa!” Anna called out. She gave Elsa a curtsy and stammered, “Uh, Queen. Me again. May I present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.”

    Elsa knew of the Southern Isles of Naboo. They were a wealthy aristocracy and were known for training soldiers for the Republic. The gentleman that Anna introduced to her stepped forward and bowed to her. He was tall, thin but well maintained, red haired with sideburns and wore royal white and gold regalia.

    Both Hans and Anna stumbled their words together excitingly, making Elsa a bit nervous. Hans finally asked for a blessing, but the both of them said in unison, “Of our marriage!”

    Elsa went wide eyed and gasped, “Marriage?”

    “Yes!” Anna squealed.

    “I’m sorry, I’m confused.”

    Anna began to ramble on that they were still working out the detains themselves, not a good sign to Elsa. Then Anna asked Hans if they could live in Arendelle, causing more shock to Elsa. Then Anna said something about his twelve brothers, surprising Elsa even more.

    Before Anna could continue, Elsa told them, “Wait, slow down. No one’s brothers are staying here, no one is getting married.”

    Anna, understandably crestfallen and just as confused, asked, “Wait, what?”

    Rubbing her hands together nervously, Elsa asked Anna, “May I talk to you, please? Alone?”

    “No.” Anna said, holding onto Hans’ arm. “What ever you have to say, you can say to both of us.”

    With Anna’s defiance, Elsa was starting to lose her nerve. She needed to get through to Anna and sternly told her, “Fine. You can’t marry a man you just met.”

    “You can if it’s true love.” Anna replied. Now she was being ridiculous.

    “Anna, what do you know about true love?”

    “More than you. All you know is to shut people out.”

    Those words hurt Elsa. Anna may not know the truth, but the simple fact that she hit her with those stinging words just went too far. Elsa gave Anna a hurt look and told her, “You asked for my blessing, but my answer is no.”

    Elsa began to walk away and Hans tried to talk with her, but his words were cut off when he shouted in pain. Anna and Elsa spun to look at him and saw that his right arm was pulled forcefully behind him by Jack, who held his free arm against Hans’ elbow and tugging his forearm back.

    “Jack!” Elsa cried out.

    Anna pulled on Jack and pleaded, “Jack, what are you doing?”

    Not paying any attention to either of them, Jack glared down at Hans while tightening his lock on Hans’ arm. Pulling harder, causing Hans to cry out, he asked through his teeth, “Where’s Pitch, you son of a bitch?”


	5. Chapter 4

    “Jack, what do you think you’re doing?” Anna gasped as she pulled on Jack’s arm, trying to pull him off of Hans. Jack had Hans’ locked in and he kept pulling, causing Hans to shout in pain. Everyone in the ballroom watched in horror.

    Elsa stepped forward and demanded, “Jack, stop this! Let him go!”

    “Not until he tells me what I want to hear!” Jack replied.

    “Ah, get your hands off me!” Hans demanded, groaning in pain.

    “Tell me where Pitch is or I’ll break your arm!” Jack shouted. Jack felt something press against the side of his head. He looked over and saw one of the guards held a blaster rifle against his head. He glanced about and saw that the palace guards surrounded him. Jack knew that there was no way out, so he had no choice but to let Hans go.

    “Hans!” Anna cried out as Hans collapsed to his knees, gripping his arm. She supported him as he tried to stand up. She looked to Jack asked, “What’s gotten into you?”

    Jack looked at her first, his face twisted with concern. His eyes trailed to Hans, the two glaring at each other.

    The older man that Anna danced with pushed his way through the crowd and glared at Jack, Jack not even looking at him. The man said, “Take this ruffian away!”

    “No!” Elsa ordered. “Lower your weapons, now!” The guards complied and she walked up to Jack, the two looking at each other. She asked, “Jack, what’s wrong with you?”

    Jack pointed to Hans and said, “That man was there when my master was murdered.”

    “What? Are you insane?” Hans asked, rubbing his arm. “I’ve never even seen you before!”

    “He’s lying!” Jack shouted. He looked to Elsa and told her, “I saw him there when my master was cut down. He’s dangerous.”

    “He’s the liar!” Hans accused. “I don’t know what game he’s playing at, but he tried to break my arm!” Turning to the crowd, he said, “You all saw what happened!”

    “Alright, that’s enough!” Elsa shouted.

    She had no idea who to believe. Her emotions went with Jack, but she just met him. After calling her sister out for her farce engagement, she’d be labeled a hypocrite if she just chose to believe Jack. However, she knew absolutely nothing about this Prince Hans. The only thing she knew was that Anna wanted to marry him. Everyone looked to her to make the decision, choose Jack or choose Hans. She was Queen, she had to make the right choice, for everyone.

    “I…I think you both should leave.”

    “Elsa.” Jack gasped, hurt by her choice, not that it was easy on her. Not even looking at him.

    Then, Anna grabbed her hand, trying to stop her, and pulled her glove off. Anna begged, “Elsa, no! Wait!”

    “Give me my glove!” Elsa demanded, reaching for Anna’s hand.

    Pulling her hand back away from Elsa, Anna teared up and asked, “Please! Please, I can’t live like this anymore!”

    As the two sisters fought, Jack felt something. He felt a surge of energy from Elsa. It wasn’t the Force, but something else. Something strong, but out of control.

    He looked to Elsa, tears in her eyes, and watch her as she told Anna, “Then leave.”

    Anna gasped, everyone shocked by her response.

    “What did I ever do to you?” Anna cried.

    The power was growing stronger. Jack told Anna, “Anna, don’t.”

    “Enough, Anna.” Elsa cried as she walked to the door.

    “No! Why? Why do you shut me out?”

    “Anna, stop this.” Jack warned.

    “Why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?”

    “Anna, stop!”

    “I said, enough!” Elsa shouted, swiping her hand out as she turned to Anna. What happened, sent everyone into utter shock. From Elsa’s hand came a stream of blue frost, hitting the ground and creating a barrier around her and the door, a barrier of sharp icy blades pointing to everyone. Everyone, including Anna, just looked at her, paralyzed with fear. Only one didn’t.

    Jack looked at the ice barrier, stunned by her power. He looked to her and muttered to himself, “It can’t be…”

    “Sorcery.” the older man growled. Turning to his guards, he ordered, “Shoot her!”

    Elsa looked to him, gasping aloud. The guards pulled their pistols and pointed them at her. She didn’t have time to run, she could only stand still in terror. They were going to kill her. With the sound of their blasters ringing, She waited for oblivion.

    But it never came.

    Jumping over the barrier and landing right in front of her, the sound of his lightsaber activating, Jack deflected the blasts away from her. Jack stood there before her, spinning his blade and a second blue beam emitting from the other end of his hilt. Everyone looked to the both of them, Elsa cowering behind Jack.

    The older man demanded, “Does the Jedi take pleasure in defending a wicked sorceress?”

    “Mind your tongue or I’ll cut it out.” Jack sneered. Jack twirled the blade in his fingers, pointed to Hans and said, “If there’s anyone you should fear, it’s him.” Hans glowered Jack, Jack only holding his firm expression.

    Elsa leaned back against the doors of the ballroom, locked onto Jack. She was lost in emotions knowing that Jack just risked his life to protect her. Never before in her life has anyone put themselves in danger for her. Grateful wouldn’t even come close to how she was feeling.

    All that faded away when she looked over to Anna, who was looking back at her. Elsa felt numb knowing that she nearly killed her sister. Again. She needed to get away. She pushed the door open and ran out into the hallway.

    “Elsa!” Anna called out to her.

    Jack turned and saw that she was gone. He heard the guards prime their blasters and turned to reach his hand out. From his fingertips came his ice blast, building the barrier Elsa created higher and retracted the icy spikes so no one would get hurt. Blaster fire rang out on the other side as the guards fired upon it to melt it down and Jack ran out the door. Closing it, he blasted ice along the gap of the two doors, sealing them shut. He deactivated his lightsaber and looked down the hall, calling, “Elsa!”

    Elsa knew she was coming out to the front gate of the castle. If she could just make it outside, she’d be able to get away.

    “Elsa!” someone called out behind her. She stopped and looked behind her and saw Jack running up to her. He begged, “Elsa, wait! Let me help you!”

    She held her hands out and said, “Please, stay away from me!”

    Jack held his hand out and told, “Elsa, listen to me. You need to remain calm.”

    “I need to get away! I’m too dangerous!”

    “No, you’re not. Look” Jack turned his palm up and blue ice sparks levitated up from his hand. They accumulate and a snowball formed and levitated in the air. Looking back at Elsa, who was standing in awe at what he did, he told her, “You’re not alone.”

    Elsa couldn’t believe it. Jack had the same power as her. Not only that, but he had total control. She was going to say something, but something hit her from behind. It was accompanied by the sound of loud buzzing and she felt pain all over her body. She then collapsed and feel unconscious.

    “Elsa!” Jack cried out. He looked up and saw two of the guards standing there with stun blasters. He reached out and used the Force to pull them from their hands and swatted them with his lightsader. He threw his hand forward and gave them a gust, throwing them into the wall behind them. He deactivated his lightsaber and ran to Elsa’s side. He held her up in his arms and she stayed asleep. He needed to get her out of there.

    He looked around and saw a short stone pillar with a iron bust sitting on top of it. He reached up and used the Force to hold onto the bust and threw it through the window next to them. He picked her and stepped up onto the window ledge.

    “Jack?” Elsa stirred awake. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. She realized that she was in his arms and asked, “What’s going on?”

    Jack looked down at her and said, “I’m getting you out of here.” He looked down at the fjord and told her, “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

    “Jack?” Elsa was getting nervous, realizing that Jack intended to jump out the window. He took a step out and they plunged towards the water. As they fell, Elsa screamed loudly, afraid of hitting the water hard. However, instead of crashing through the water, when Jack’s feet touched the water, it froze into a ice platform for him to stand on. Elsa looked down at the ice and saw that it was almost like her powers, but hers was smoother and his was frosted and had a flowery kind of mosaic pattern going across it. Elsa thought it was beautiful.

    Jack told her. “I’m going to set you down now. Can you walk?”

    “I think so.” Jack set her on her feet and Elsa tried to stable herself. She staggered a bit, but she felt her strength return. She looked up at the window they jumped from and asked, “What are we going to do?”

    Jack looked towards the village and asked, “Can we get to the spaceport from the fjord?”

    “I-I think so.”

    Jack took her hand and they ran across the fjord, Jack’s footsteps creating an icy path across the water.

 

* * *

 

    Eugene and Rapunzel made it to Arendelle, but that didn’t mean that they were safe. The Mandalorians were still closing in on them and they needed to hide. They didn’t know what was going on in Arendelle, but there was some kind of celebration going on and they hid in the crowd. However, Rapunzel’s hair would eventually get the Mandalorians’ attention. He had to find someplace for them conceal themselves and wait for the Mandalorians to pass over.

    “Eugene!” Rapunzel cried out. He looked over and saw the Mandalorians we turning a corner towards them, catching the attention of the villagers. He looked around for any safe haven.

    “Quick, in here!” he told her as he took her hand and entered the large building next to them. He had no idea what it was, but at this point, any place is as safe as any.

    He ran through the halls and past the excited lines of people. He past by a large opened door and took a quick glimpse inside as he ran past. He looked back in and saw a large Defender-class corvette. They were in the spaceport. Perfect.

    “C’mon.” he said as he guided Rapunzel into the hanger and up the ramp of the open ship.

    He looked around the inside and saw a doorway entering the lower section of the ship and brought her downstairs. He looked around the room they entered and saw a few open compartments. They climbed in, Rapunzel raveling her hair up so it wouldn’t get caught up and Eugene closed the door.

    Outside, Astrid, Hiccup and Merida entered the spaceport and looked around. Astrid said, “Lets split up. He could have gotten on any one of these ships.”

    With that, the three ran out into the port, blasters drawn.

     

    “Everyone search the village! Find the Queen,” Hans ordered as he exited the castle and pushed his way through the crowd with Anna, the old man, calling himself the Duke of Weselton, a Naboo settlement, and several guards. They all crossed the bridge of the fjord and moved towards the village. He looked down at Anna and told her, “Stay close to me. Who knows what she’s capable of.”

    “I’m not afraid.” Anna told him. “I want to help Elsa. I’m just worried about Jack.”

    “Don’t worry, I’ll deal with him.” Hans said with a hint of malice.

    Watching them from an alley was Jack, peering around the corner of a building. Elsa stood close to him, nervous and holding onto his hand. He looked down at her and asked, “How far are we from the spaceport?”

    She looked down the other way of the alleyway, she pointed down it and told him to follow her. The two ran through the back allies toward the spaceport. Upon reaching it, they found a service entrance. It was locked, but both of them froze the door and Jack used his lightsaber and cut it, shattering it. They ran inside and the two made their way through the service access out into the main hanger. IT was there that they saw the Defender.

    “It’s better than nothing.” Jack said.

    Elsa heard the guards coming and warned him. He took her hand again and the two ran for the ship. As they ran up, Elsa’s cape got caught on the hull of the ship. Hearing the guards entering the hanger, she gave it a quick pull and a small piece was ripped off, still stuck to the hull. Jack and Elsa ran inside to hide.

    Entering the hanger was Anna, Hans and two guards. Hans said, “I doubt they came in here. It’s too big to hide.”

    “I’m gonna look around, just in case.” Anna said., looking about the hanger.

    “I’m not leaving you.” Hans told her.

    “No, go check the rest of the port. We need to cover as much ground as we can.”

    Hans was about to protest, but he knew she was right. Any way of finding Elsa was necessary, even splitting up. Hans nodded and ordered the guards out, leaving Anna alone on the hanger.

    “Elsa!” she called out. “Elsa, are you in here? It’s Anna!”

    She walked up to the ship and called into it. That’s when she noticed the torn cloth dangling atop the ramp, caught between it and the hull. She ran up inside the ship and called for Elsa again. No answer. She looked over and saw the cockpit of the ship. She had some knowledge of corvette ships from what she read growing up and Defender classes didn’t change much since they were first manufactured during the time of the Old Republic. She though she could use the ship’s scanning system to see how many people were on board. She ran into the cockpit and looked around the control panel. It was far more difficult that she thought. The buttons and levers weren’t labeled and she didn’t know what button to push.

    That’s when she saw a big green button. She thought it was the ignition and pressed it. The ship turned on, but it did more than that. She heard the ramp and the threshold of the ship close. Then it lifted off the ground and hovered to the door. With a small kick, the ship flew out of the hanger and up to the night sky. She activated the autopilot.

    Down below, where Eugene, Pascal and Rapunzel were hiding, Rapunzel clung onto Eugene and he held onto her, both clearly nervous. Jack and Elsa were hiding down it what looked like the captain’s quarters, the ship shaking caused them to loose their balance. Elsa toppled over onto Jack and the two fell onto the bed, Elsa clinging to Jack.

    Back in the cockpit, Anna sat down and gripped onto the chair, moaning to herself, “Oh, I have a bad feeling about this!”

    Back in the hanger, Hiccup and Merida ran in and watched the ship fly off. They suspected that their target was aboard. Hiccup activated his comlink and said over it, “Track that ship!”


	6. Chapter 5

    Hans returned to the castle, unaware that Anna wasn’t on the planet anymore. He ordered the guards to find her right away and went to find the communications room. When he found it, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Walking up to the holocom, he punched in the commands and waited for his connection. When it did, a hologram of a tall, thin hooded figure in a cloak was projected.

    “Any news?” the figure asked.

    “I’ve convinced the Princess to marry me.” Hans said proudly. “She’s ignorant to our plans. But there is bad news.”

    “Is that so?”

    “I’m afraid so. The Queen has disappeared.”

    The figure went silent, that terrified Hans. After a snarl, the figure told Hans, “Ready our troops on the ground. I’ll bring our fleet to Naboo and create a blockade.”

    “My Lord, is that wise?” Hans asked with concern. “If the Republic get wind of it, they’ll send-”

    “It’s no concern, Hans.” the figure cut him off. “Disable communications and make sure that the Queen doesn’t get off world.”

    “Yes, my Lord.” Hans bowed and the communication line went out.

    Hans exited the communications room and he was greeted by a guard, “Prince Hans, we checked the surveillance systems of the spaceport and it picked up the Princess entering a ship that took of shortly afterwards!”

    “What?” Hans gasped. “Did you get a track on the ship?”

    “I’m afraid something was jamming us! Someone else was tracking it!”

    Hans began to panic. Even if he could find Elsa, his plan was useless without Anna. But who was tracking the ship?  

 

* * *

 

    Anna desperately pressed the green button over and over again in hopes to deactivate the autopilot to no avail. He looked around at the control panel and tried to figure everything out, but her mind was in shambles at the moment. She looked at the galactic map that projected from the console and saw the ship was flying in an accelerated rate away from Naboo and off into deep space.

    Down below, with the ship stable, Elsa looked up from laying on Jack to see what was happening. The ship rumbling and the sound of the ships thrusters ringing indicated to her that the ship must have taken off, but to where she had no idea.

    She looked down and saw that Jack was under her, her hands on his chest and his around her waist. The two looked at each other for a moment, heat burning in their faces. Their faces were a few inches apart.

    “Ah, I’m sorry!” Elsa yelped as she jumped off him and scrambled to her feet.

    Jack stammered his words as he sat up, but he finally managed to ask her, “Are-Are you okay?”

    “I think so.” Elsa replied, rubbing her arms nervously. She looked around the room they were hiding in and asked, “What happened?”

    “I think we took off.” Jack replied. “I think Anna’s aboard, I might have heard her voice.”

    “Oh no.” Elsa huffed.

    Jack looked up at her and asked, “Elsa, what is going on between you two?”

    “It’s complicated, Jack.” Elsa replied, hoping to drop the issue.

    “Try me.” Jack told her.

    Before anymore could be said, there was the sound of a door opening just outside the room. To make sure they weren’t discovered, Jack reached out with the Force and closed the door to the room. There was the sound of someone running past the room and up the stairs to the upper level. After a few seconds of silence, they heard a young man shout, “What are you doing?”

    Anna turned around in her seat and saw someone standing in the threshold of the cockpit. He was tall and buff, blonde hair draped across his head. The way he dressed, he looked to be a mountain worker for Arendelle. He looked around her age.

    “I-I’m sorry!” Anna squealed, standing up from the seat. “I was looking for someone, I thought they ran in here, I was going to use the ship’s scanner to see it they were here and-”

    “You went from all that to stealing my ship?” the young man asked. He drew his blaster, pointed it at her and said, “I doubt that.”

    Raising her hands up, Anna begged, “Don’t shoot! I wasn’t trying to steal your ship!”

    “Don’t shoot?” Elsa asked, hearing Anna beg for her life. She gasped and cried out, “Anna!”

    As she ran for the door, Jack called out, “Elsa, stop!” He leaped up and chased her as she opened the door and ran upstairs.

    Elsa reached the upper level and saw the young man with his blaster pointed in the cockpit. She threw her hand out and an ice blast fired from her fingers, shouting, “Leave her alone!”

    The ice blast turned to an ice cocoon that engulfed the young man’s hand and blaster, weighing his hand down and he shrieked in pain.

    Jack ran up behind her and saw what she did.

    “Elsa!” he shouted and ran up to the young man to remove the ice from his hand. When it was free, Jack grabbed the blaster and threw into the communication room of the ship. Making sure the young man was okay, he looked up at Elsa, a terrified look on her face, and asked her, “Why’d you do that?”

    Still terrified, she replied, “I wasn’t going to let him shoot her!”

    “Elsa?” Anna called out from the cockpit. She looked out from the cockpit and looked to Elsa. She brightened up, held her hands out and cheered her sister’s name.

    “Please Anna, stay back.” Elsa begged, hold her hands up to keep Anna back.

    Anna was confused and hurt. She asked, “Elsa, what’s the matter with you? What are you afraid of?”

    “I’m trying to keep you safe!” Elsa told her. “Don’t you see? I’m too dangerous to be around! I won’t hurt you again!”

    “Again? Elsa, what are you talking about?”

    “Wait, I know what’s going on.” Jack said, finishing up with tending to the young man. He stood up and looked to Anna. Anna looked back at him, still upset that he attacked Hans, but was also a bit uncomfortable with him being so close. He was looking at her, concentrating on something. He told her, “There’s a memory block. Someone’s trying to keep something from you.”

    “Jack, please don’t.” Elsa begged.

    Jack looked to her and said, “Whatever it is, she has a right to know.”

    “But, Jack-”

    “It has to be done, Elsa.”

    Jack laid his hand on Anna’s head and she gasped as she closed her eyes. After a moment of Jack using the Force on her, he broke the memory block and Anna saw it all.

    Her and Elsa were small children, around the age when her and Elsa were forced to live in separate rooms. They were in the main hall of their castle and Elsa was using her snow power. It was late at night and the snow’s brightness contrasted with the darkness, glowing beautifully. They were playing, giggling and being just like she remembered, only with Elsa’s powers. Then Anna was jumping on the small snow pillars Elsa was making, but Anna was moving to fast. Elsa then slipped and there was no pillar under Anna, nothing to cushion her fall. Elsa called out to her, throwing her hand out and an ice blast flew from her fingers and hit Anna in the head.

    Anna gasped loudly as she broke from the memory. Jack removed his hand and looked to Anna, a look of concern on his face. He saw the memory too.

    Anna looked to Elsa, a frightened look on her face. The look Anna gave her hurt her so much. Anna touched where the blast hit her head. After a moment, Anna began to tear up and breath heavily. Elsa thought Anna was scared of her, but what Anna did next shocked her.

    Anna ran up to Elsa and hugged her.

    “Uh, what’s going on?” the young man asked, confused by what was going on around him.

    Jack helped him to his feet and told him, “These two need to be left alone for a bit.”

    “What about my ship?”

    “We’ll figure it out.”

    “It’s not that. I was downstairs trying to fix the engine when it took off. It’s going to shut off right about…now.”

    Then, the thrusters died out and the ship came to a stop. Everyone looked around and waited for the power and the life support to deactivated.

    “It’s alright, we’re all good.” the young man told everyone. “The life support’s on a different power source. We’re going to be okay.”

    “Just stranded.” Jack said.

    “For now, unless a ship comes along.” the young man looked to Jack, held his hand out and said, “I’m Kristoff, by the way.”

    Taking his hand, Jack shook it and introduced everyone else, “I’m Jack. This is Elsa and Anna.”

    Anna, breaking from Elsa, said to Kristoff, “Sorry that I turned on the autopilot.”

    “Well, I don’t know what brought you all here, but we’re stuck together. Might as well get comfortable.”

    “I guess.” Elsa said. Looking to Anna, she asked, “May I speak with you? Alone this time?”

    Anna knew she was referring to their meeting with Hans before and agreed that they should talk alone. Jack and Kristoff entered the cockpit to see if they could raise anyone on communications and Anna and Elsa entered the lower levels. They walked into the room Jack and Elsa were hiding earlier and Elsa closed the door.

    Not looking at Anna, Elsa sighed and told her, “I guess there’s a lot to talk about here.”

    “Just a little.” Anna said, a comforting smile on her face. She asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you think I wouldn’t understand?”

    Elsa grimaced and told her, “I promised our parents I wouldn’t say anything. They tried to help me control it, but nothing worked.”

    So they knew?” Anna gasped. “All this time, I thought I did something wrong.”

    “Of course not, Anna. It was…It was me this whole time.”

    “But Elsa, you could have told me!” Anna cried. “Our parents didn’t have to know! I could have, I don’t know…Snuck into your room and tried to help you!”

    “And if you got hurt again? Then what?”

    “It’s just not fair!” Anna said, walking over and taking Elsa’s hands. “If I had know, I would have helped you too!”

    “Anna, don’t.” Elsa begged, trying to pull her hands from Anna’s grip.

    Holding her hands tighter, Anna told her, “What happened was an accident. Elsa, I’m not afraid. I want to help you.”

    Awestruck by Anna’s dedication, Elsa tearfully looked into Anna’s eyes. She asked, “Why?”

    “Why?” Anna asked, tearfully chuckling. “You’re my sister. I love you, silly.”

    Elsa smiled, not afraid of hurting her, and held Anna tightly. The two sister embraced each other and just let the years past leave them and just let go of the pain.

    “You see?” Anna asked. “I’m fine.”

    “Anna, I am so, so sorry for everything.” Elsa sobbed. “I ruined us. I won’t let it happen again.”

    “I know.” Anna reassured her. The two broke the embrace and looked at each other. Anna squealed and a chirped, “You know what this means, right? Our family is back together again!”

    “Yeah.” Elsa chuckled, so excited to have her sister back by her side.

    “Once we get back to Naboo, we can make preparations together! We can sit down with Hans and-”

    “Oh, um, Anna?” Elsa cut her off. With all that was going on, she forgot all about her engagement. “Are you certain you want to go through with this?”

    “What?” Anna asked, confused by the sudden change. “Of course I do! Why would you ask that?”

    “Anna, remember what said? You two just met.”

    “So? It’s true love.” Anna was desperate to keep the peace between her and her sister, but things were starting to turn again. Anna had a retort though, “Besides, if it was Jack, I sure you’d have said yes too.”

    Elsa was taken aback by Anna, telling her, “It’s not even close. Jack and I are friends and nothing more.”

    “Oh come on, Elsa. Everyone could see that you were gushing over him.” Anna teased.

    Blushing, Elsa said, “I was not!”

    “You so were!”

    “I was not and that’s the last we’ll talk of this. We’ll discuss this when we get back to Naboo.” With that, Elsa left to return back upstairs. Anna smirked and rolled her eyes as she followed.

    Back in the cockpit, Jack tried to help Kristoff with the radio, but with the power going to the life support, it wasn’t easy. Any signal they got dropped instantly. Jack thought it was a fools errand, but it was better than just sitting around.

    He then felt something. It was small, but it was present. It was the Force, calling to him from down below deck. He looked to the entrance to the lower deck, ignoring Elsa and Anna walking up. He told Kristoff that he would be back and went towards the entrance.

    Elsa watched Jack walk by and asked, “What’s wrong?”

    Not looking at her, he held his hand up and told her, “Wait up here.”

    He cautiously went back downstairs, drawing his lightsaber. He followed the presence right into the cargo hold. He saw crates and a large cabinet compartment. The Force was calling him to the cabinets and he slowly walked towards it. He held his hand out and used the Force to open it and there was Eugene, Rapunzel and Pascal all huddled together, Eugene and Rapunzel screaming in fear.

    “Hey, hey!” Jack shouted over them. “What’s going on here!”

    “Uh…nothing?” Eugene replied.

    “Come out of there.” Jack told them.

    Eugene climbed out and carried Rapunzel out and placed her on her feet. Looking back and forth between the two, Jack sensed the Force was emulating from Rapunzel.

    “You.” he said to her. “You know of the Force?”

    “Hey buddy, back off.” Eugene warned him. Before he could say anything more, Jack waved his hand in Eugene’s face and his blanked out.

    Looking to Eugene, Rapunzel gasped and asked, “What did you do to him?”

    “He’ll be fine in a moment.” Jack told her. Looking at her closer, Jack noticed her long hair, most of it still laying in the compartment. He could feel energy pouring from it. He said to her, “This is strange. Your strength flows through your hair. I’ve never seen that before.”

    Rapunzel, puzzled, looked up at Jack and asked, “Who are you?”

    Looking back at her Jack told her, “I’m Jack. I was also trained in the Force.”

    “You know the Force?” she asked excitingly. “I’ve never met anyone else who could master it!”

    “Yeah, I can sense you’re very powerful in it as well.” Jack was also getting excited.

    “Uh.” Eugene moaned. As the two looked at him, Eugene regained consciousness and asked, “Whoa, where am I?”

    “Yeah, where are we?” Rapunzel asked.

    “Well right now, we’re kinda stranded many parsecs away from Naboo.” Jack told them.

    “Parsecs? Oh, great!” Eugene groaned.

    “Wait, what’s going on?” Rapunzel asked.

    “It’s a long story.” Jack told them. “By the way, I never got your names.”

    “That’s not your business, pretty, boy.” Eugene told him.

    “Eugene, please. I can sense that we can trust him.” Rapunzel told him. Turning to Jack, she said, “My name is Rapunzel. This is Eugene.” He held Pascal out, “And this is Pascal.”

    The small reptile looked curiously up at Jack, but smiled to him. Jack smiled back and guided them upstairs. He entered the cockpit, Kristoff was still trying to raise communications while Elsa and Anna at down on the cockpit chairs.

    Kristoff turned and saw Jack with Eugene, Pascal and Rapunzel and said, “Great, more stowaways.”

    Anna greeted them, “Hello! I’m Anna!”

    “Hi! I’m Rapunzel!” the blonde replies just as friendly as Anna.

    “What were you doing down there?” Kristoff asked, not even upset. He was use to this now.

    “Well, that’s kind of a long story.” Eugene replied. “As long as we’re far from Naboo, I-”

    The computer beeped and the radar showed a ship incoming.

    “Good, we have help.” Kristoff sighed.

    Eugene, unlike everyone else, was nervous. He asked, “Uh, what model is that ship?”

    Looking over the scan, Kristoff told him, “It’s a Hammerhead corvette. Why do you ask?”

    “Oh boy.” Eugene muttered.

    The sound of the corvette latching itself to the airlock silenced everyone. Kristoff got up and went to greet the new guests, Anna following him. Standing in place, sulking in fear, Eugene whimpered. Rapunzel was also nervous and Pascal whimpered as he climbed into Rapunzel’s hair. Jack could sense their fear and Elsa could see it on their faces.

    “What’s wrong?” Elsa asked, both Rapunzel and Eugene looking at her with terrified looks plastered on their faces.

    Kristoff was about to open the airlock door, but the sound of a heavy rifle rang and the lock was shattered, causing the door to open. There standing the threshold was Merida, her bowcaster pointing at him and Anna. She walked in, Astrid and Hiccup behind her. This time, they didn’t have the rest of their team, but Toothless instead. He climbed in and snarled at Kristoff, who held his hands up and back up in fear.

    Astrid looked to Anna and demanded, “Where’s Rider?”

    Anna, nervous and her hands up, asked her, “Who?”

    Astrid held a hologram up of Eugene’s face and repeated, “Where is he?”

    “Look, look!” Eugene stormed in the room with Jack and Elsa. Toothless turned to him and screeched at him, causing Eugene to jump back. Calming down, Eugene said, “Look, you want me, right? Let these people go and I’ll go willingly.”

    Hiccup looked to his female companions, turned back to him and said, “You, come willingly with us?”

    “Yeah.”

    After a pause, Hiccup told him, “I don’t buy it.”

    “Hey, we’re stranded out here in the middle of who knows were and have nowhere to go!” Eugene pleaded. “What could I possibly planning?”

    Merida glared at him through her helmet, then looked around the room at the others that were there. Even with Toothless, her team was outnumbers and, with Rapunzel and Jack toting lightsabers, probably outmatched. She had to think smart, not aggressive.

    “What’s your game, Rider?” she asked.

    “Nothing.” Eugene looked back at Rapunzel, worried about her safety. Looking back to the Mandalorians, he told them, “Just make sure she gets back safely.”

    “And the others?” Astrid asked, referring to Kristoff, Anna, Elsa and Jack.

    “Them too.” Eugene said.

    “Wait!” Rapunzel shouted. Everyone turned to her and watched her open her pouch. She pulled out the crown and asked, “This is what you want?”

    “Rapunzel!” Eugene hissed.

    “Eugene, let me handle this.” She told him. To the Mandalorians, she said, “I found this with him. This is what you want, I’m guessing. Take us back to Naboo and release him to me, and you can have it.”

    “And what makes you think we can’t take it from you?” Astrid asked, Toothless growling along with her.

    Rapunzel smirked and said, “Because I can sense your caution. You don’t want to attack Jack or me.”

    “Really?” Jack smugly asked, reaching for his lightsaber, Toothless turning to him with a snarl.

    “Enough!” Hiccup shouted. He looked to their opponents, thinking the scenario out. It was true that they would be fools to attack Jack or Rapunzel, even though they could hold their ground against Force users. However, they never counted on them being with Eugene. He was going to make sure that his team got out alive and unscathed. The bounty did mention the crown so it was possible that’s all that was truly desired. He placed his hand on Toothless’ snout and told him, “Easy, buddy.” Turning to Rapunzel, “Very well, Jedi. We’ll agree to your terms. You and your friends may go free once we reach Naboo.”

    “But we clap him in irons!” Merida demanded as she pointed to Eugene.

    “You don’t lay a hand on him.” Rapunzel warned, drawing her lightsaber and holding it to the crown. “You touch him, I’ll melt this down.”

    Kristoff smirked and whispered to Anna, “This girl doesn’t mess around.”

    Anna nervously smiled and shook her head.

    “Fine!” Hiccup groaned. “We get to Naboo, you hand us the crown and you’ll all go free! Deal?”

    Rapunzel proudly smiled and said, “Deal.” She put the crown back in her pouch.

    “Wait.” Elsa called. She looked to the Mandalorians and asked, “How can we trust you? How do we know you won’t kill us when we enter your ship?”

    “You calling us backstabbers, missy?” Merida asked angrily. She got in Elsa’s face, Jack about to step in but Elsa gestured him to stay back, and told her, “Listen here, we may be Mandalorians, but the one thing we ain’t are murderers! We honor our code and we fly straight!”

    Elsa was unfazed by Merida’s threatening manner. She even went as far to say, “You don’t intimidate me.”

    There was silence, Jack and Anna stood worried, and Merida glared into Elsa’s eyes through the visor. After a moment of silence, Merida began to laugh and say, “Oh, I like this one! You got guts!”

    “Damn it, Elsa!” Jack growled. “You could have gotten us all killed!”

    “I didn’t though.” Elsa said. “You must look your enemies down and not break under pressure.” She turned to Anna and said, “Let that be a lesson to you.”

    Anna only gave her a look before following Hiccup into the ship.

    Jack was about to follow suite, but he turned to Elsa with a smirk and said, “That was good though.”

    Elsa proudly smiled at him and followed him into the corvette.

    As everyone departed, Kristoff asked, “What about my ship?”

    “What about it?” Eugene asked, entering the corvette. “Just get another one.”

    Sadly looking around his ship, Kristoff whined, “I just made the last payment.” Sulking, he walked out into the corvette and the door closed behind him. The ships detached and the Hammerhead turned back to fly towards Naboo, leaving the Defender to drift.

    Piloting the ship, Hiccup switched on the telecom and radioed, “Corvette Seven to Reaper, we’re coming back.”

    Silence.

    “Reaper, do you copy?”

    Still no reply.

    “Snotlout, do you read me? Anyone?”

    “What’s going on?” Astrid asked him.

    “Something’s wrong. They’re not coming in.” Hiccup told her.

    Entering the cockpit, Kristoff commented, “Well, we’re a little ways out. You might not be in range.”

    “No, our ship is equipped with an ultra satellite. We could reach the Outer Rim.” Merida told him. “There’s something wrong here.”

    Hiccup told her, “Full speed to Naboo.”


	7. Chapter 7

    As the Hammerhead flew through space towards Naboo, Elsa and Jack gathered Kristoff, Anna, Rapunzel and Eugene into one of the sleeping quarters of the ship. Eugene still didn’t feel comfortable around the Mandalorians and with Merida all but shoving her blaster in everyone’s face, everyone was a bit on edge. Rapunzel and Jack assured everyone that the could sense the Mandalorians would honor the agreement, but Jack also thought that they all owed Kristoff an explanation for why they were all on his ship, since they were the reason he lost it.

    After all the stories were told, Kristoff chuckled and shook his head, telling everyone, “Well, this is quite the situation.”

    “I’m sorry.” Anna told him, sitting on a cot as she looked up at him.

    “Me too.” Elsa added. “Once we get back to Naboo, I’ll make sure your compensated for your ship.”

    “Thanks, but I’ll manage a new one.” Kristoff gratefully told her.

    Jack stood idle against a wall, but he was picking something up from Rapunzel. It was anticipation, but also uneasiness. Her and Eugene were sitting alone and Jack turned to look over at them. As Kristoff, Anna and Elsa talked about arrangements, Jack went over to Rapunzel and Eugene.

    “Hey?” he greeted them. “Mind if I sit down?”

    “Of course, Jack.” Rapunzel happily replied. As he sat down on the cot across from the one they were sitting on, Rapunzel noticed his bemused look and asked him, “What’s wrong?”

    After a moment, Jack asked, “I should be asking you that.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Rapunzel, is there something you’re worried about?”

    Rapunzel went quiet for a moment, knowing that Jack could sense her inner emotions. She looked to Eugene, since he knew what they were both talking about. In fact, that’s exactly what the two were talking about when he walked up. She turned to Jack and said, “Jack, earlier today, I had a vision. We were all there.”

    “Really?” Jack asked, interested in her story. “What happened in that vision?”

    “I saw…” Rapunzel closed her eyes and tried to remember her vision. Collecting her thoughts, she told Jack, “The only one really doing anything was…you.”

    “Me? What was I doing?” Jack asked.

    “That’s what was strange. You were fighting my mother.”

    Jack went wide eyed. That’s when it hit him, “Rapunzel, did your mother train you in the Force?”

    “Yes. All my life, she trained me and taught me all about the Force. I later learned that my power came from my hair. We don’t know why, but when I was little, someone tried to cut it.” She pulled back her hair, revealing a short strand of brown hair. She said, “When it’s cut, it loses its power.”

    “I see.” Jack said. “This is too weird. I’ve never even heard of the Force using any part of the body as a conduit.”

    “Neither has mother.”

    Jack needed to ask, “Rapunzel, is your mother a Jedi?”

    “I’m…not sure.” Rapunzel’s words were shaky. “I never even heard of a Jedi before today.”

    “Really?” Jack asked.

    “Yeah, I mentioned it to her and she didn’t even know what I was talking about.” Eugene told Jack.

    Jack didn’t like this at all. Whoever her mother is, she has been training Rapunzel in the Force and hasn’t even mentioned the Jedi. This could only lead to one other possibility.

    “Rapunzel, have you ever heard of the Sith?”

    “Yes!” Rapunzel smiled. “That’s the way my mother was training me in!”

    Jack couldn’t, no, wouldn’t believe it. It may be true that Rapunzel’s mother may be training her in the ways of the Sith, but Rapunzel was far to upbeat and chipper to be one. Jack used the Force to sense her inner desires, but she only had hope, ambition and kindness. He felt no malice, no greed, no hatred, nothing that was any way in Sith nature. Maybe the Force was shielding her somehow, but he didn’t feel comfortable with her not knowing who the Sith are.

    He must have had a look on his face because she asked him what was wrong. He asked her, “Could you tell me what you’ve been taught as a Sith?”

    “Why? Aren’t you a Sith too?” Rapunzel naively asked.

    Jack was more worried now. He asked her, “You know of no other life outside the Sith?”

    Rapunzel shook her head no.

    “Have you heard of the Light and the Dark Side of the Force?”

    Again, she shook her head no.

    “Recite to me the Sith Code.”

    “Sure!” Rapunzel sat up in proper fashion and said the mantra, “Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me free.”

    Jack nodded, figuring that that was all she knew. He asked her, “And that’s the only code that exists?”

    “I guess. Why?”

    Jack cleared his throat and recited, “There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.”

    Rapunzel thought back and tried to remember if she heard it before, but she never heard this code Jack just told her. Shaking her head, she asked, “What code is that?”

    Jack told her, “That’s the Jedi Code. That was the code I was raised to believe in.”

    Rapunzel was confused. All her life, all she knew was the Sith, nothing else in the Force existed. Her mother trained her to make sure never to feel fear in the face of adversity and that the Force would guide her, but never once has Gothel ever mentioned the Jedi.

    Rapunzel asked Jack, “What do the Jedi teach?”

    “The Jedi teach the ways of the Light Side of the Force.” Jack told her. “Positive emotions like harmony and peace.”

    “And what about the Sith?” Rapunzel asked, now starting to get worried.

    “The Sith embrace the Dark Side. They embrace anger and hatred, relying on their passions for strength,”

    Rapunzel didn’t know what to say. She never heard of this before. She sensed truth to Jack’s words, but she didn’t want to believe it.

    “It…It sounds so…” Rapunzel stammered. She asked Jack, “How can it be? I was raised Sith, but I don’t hate anyone. I don’t feel angry about anything.”

    “Is there any chance that you could be wrong at all?” Eugene asked.

    Thinking over what he learned about the Sith, one possibility came to mind. He told them, “The Sith can sometimes raise their students to become stronger in the Force, teach them the basics. Sometimes, they wait until their student reaches an certain age until they begin to teach them the Dark Side.”

    Rapunzel searched her feelings. She always knew that there was something that her mother was hiding, but she just tossed it off, thinking that everyone had something to hide. Still trying to understand, she asked, “What do the Sith do?”

    Jack, not wanting to hurt her, remained silent. He needed to word himself correctly as to not hurt her, but he couldn’t think of anything to help her at all. She needed to know the truth.

    “They destroy.”

    Rapunzel gasped in horror. She begged, “That’s not true!…Is it?”

    Having no other recourse, Jack told her, “Search your feelings. Let the Force guide you.”

    Rapunzel closed her eyes and focused on the Sith’s history. The Force showed her armies of dark armored warriors with red lightsabers, just like her mother. Thousands die upon their wrath and systems fell. She felt thousands of years of hatred and death as she delved into the dark history, all tyranny that bestowed upon the galaxy was all due to the Sith. She couldn’t take it anymore.

    “Rapunzel!” Eugene shouted, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her back to reality.

    She gasped and opened her eyes. She looked up at Eugene and she threw herself into his chest, sobbing loudly.

    Eugene looked at Jack and demanded, “What did you make her do?”

    Not at all proud of what happened, Jack told him, “She saw what she needed to see.”

    “Hey, everything alright?” Kristoff asked, peering in on them.

    With him were Anna and Elsa. Anna sat down next to Rapunzel and began to comfort her.

    Jack stood up and walked up to Elsa. She looked to him and asked, “What happened?”

    Jack looked back at Rapunzel, upset that she had this bombshell dropped on her. He hoped that maybe she could find peace with herself. Not looking at Elsa, he told her, “Reality.”

    Elsa looked back at Rapunzel, hoping that she’ll be alright. However, she had another thought in mind.

    “Hey, Jedi!” Merida called out to Jack from the entry of the cabin. “You need to see this!”

    With Jack gone, Elsa kept her focus on Rapunzel as she started to calm down, Anna softly rubbing her back and Eugene kept his arm around her. There was something about Rapunzel that kept bothering her. Elsa kept looking at her, thinking that she looked so familiar, but she didn’t know how since she was kept in isolation for most of her life.

    Then there was the crown she was holding. Elsa knew it all too well. It was a crown from Corona, the land ruled by her uncle and aunt. The crown was supposed to belong to her cousin, who was taken away into the night when she was a newborn. No one knows what happened to her, but the kingdom of Corona would light air lanterns that would light up the sky and hope that she would return one day.

    Why does she have it? How did she get it? Did she steal it? Questions flooded her mind, but they were in a dire situation. Once they were off the ship and everything was cleared up, she could probably sit down and talk with her about it.

    “Uh, everyone?” Jack said as he walked into the cabin. With everyone’s attention, he pointed towards the cockpit and said, “You all might want to see this.”

    Everyone except Rapunzel and Eugene stood up. Rapunzel was still trying to calm herself. Sniffing and gasping for breath, she leaned herself over and laid her head on Eugene’s shoulder, who stroked her hair. She looked up at him and asked, “Who am I now? My whole life’s been a lie.”

    Eugene didn’t know what to tell her. He had hardly any understanding of the Force. He only heard stories about the Jedi and the Sith were considered to be a distant memory. Her power in the Force was something he could never understand.

    Then he had a thought, “There’s more to you than the Force. You can make your own destiny, make your own path.”

    Rapunzel sat up and asked, “Do…Do you really think that?”

    “Of course I do.” The two locked eyes as he said that. It was in that moment that the two felt something surge through them. Eugene’s body began to move on its own and his hand reached up and caressed her cheek. She finally gave him a smile again. After a moment, they began to move closer together.

    “Hey, lovebird.” Kristoff interrupted them. The two jumped to their feet and awkwardly stood apart, chuckling nervously. Not even commenting on their behavior, Kristoff told them, “We’ve got trouble.”

    Kristoff directed them to the cockpit of the Hammerhead, where everyone was looking out the window. Past everyone, the slight image of Naboo glowed, but with everyone huddled around the window, it was hard to see. Eugene and Rapunzel made their way past everyone, and what they saw horrified them just as much as everyone else. Surrounding the planet was a massive armada of unmarked flagships, carriers and fighters.


	8. Chapter 8

    “Are our ships surrounding the entire planet?” Hans asked one of his lieutenants. He had relocated from Arendelle to one of the flagships and was gathered in with his military heads.

    “Yes, Prince Hans.” the lieutenant replied, displaying the hologram of the planet, red dots representing their armada. They all but blanketed the planet. The lieutenant told Hans, “We not only have Arendelle under occupation, but Corona and Theed as well.”

    “Any resistance?”

    “Minimal. The cities gave up without a fight, but the Gungans took up arms. We dispatched them easily.”

    “Erase them. We don’t want them to put up anymore resisting.”

    “Prince Hans!” a private called out as he ran into the meeting room. “Prince Hans, a Hammerhead Corvette just appeared on our radar! The pilot has been hailing us!”

    Hans looked to his men and nodded. Turning back to the private, he said, “Patch them through.”

     

    Back on the corvette, Hiccup kept trying to raise their ship and Astrid was hailing the main ship of the fleet. Elsa and Anna looked over the fleet, terrified and shocked by the amount of ships surrounding their planet. They were only gone for around a half an hour and in their absence, an entire armada surrounded Naboo. Where did this come from?

    Merida was at the communication screen when it rang out. She called to the team, “Someone’s responding!”

    Everyone gathered around the screen and waited for the connection. When it did, Hans appeared.

    “Hans! You’re alright!” Anna cheered.

    “Anna! Thank goodness you’re okay.” Hans sounded relieved. He looked to everyone else and asked, “Who are all these people?”

    “Oh, um, it’s a bit of a long story.” Anna chuckled. She looked back to the armada surrounding the planet, turned back to him and asked in a worried tone, “Hans, what’s going on? What are all these ships doing here?”

    “Don’t worry, Anna. I have the situation under control. We’ll allow your ship to land and-”

    “Where’s our ship?” Hiccup asked before Hans could continue.

    “What ship?”

    “A Mandalorian flagship, one of a kind.”

    Shaking his head, Hans told him, “There was no other ship here.”

    “He’s lying.” Rapunzel replied, everyone turning to her. Looking down at the screen, she said, “I can sense his intent. He’s behind all of this.”

    Confused, Hans looked to her and asked, “Excuse me, but who are you?”

    “I told you!” Jack stated. He looked back at the screen and told Hans, “I knew that you were planning something! Let these people go!”

    “Anna, why are you with him?” Hans asked, colder than he ever spoke to her.

    His tone made Anna nervous. She said to him, “Hans, he’s okay. He didn’t hurt us.”

    “He attacked me. Once you land, I’ll have him under arrest.”

    Then there was shouting and crashing coming from behind him. He turned to see what the noise was all about, giving everyone a view of the ship’s bridge. Two guards were dragging someone past the entrance. It was Snotlout, struggling and fighting to get out of the guards’ grip.

    “Snotlout!” Hiccup shouted into the screen.

    “Hiccup!” his friend called out, still struggling. As the guards pushed him past the entrance, Snotlout called out, “Go on, get outta here! It’s a trap!”

    “Close the door!” Hans ordered and a droid closed the door, Snotlout still calling out his warning. Hans then turned back to the screen.

    Hiccup demanded, “What have you done to our people?”

    Smirking, Hans proudly said, “Nothing. Yet.”

    Anna started to get worried. Hans’ behavior was nothing like before. He was kind and funny, now he was being conniving. She asked him, “What are you doing?”

    “Securing my place in the galaxy.” Hans proclaimed. “In a kingdom of twelve brothers and being the last in line, I had no chance. So, I made a deal.”

    “With Pitch.” Jack growled.

    Hans looked to him and said, “You and your master interrupted our negotiates three years ago. I agreed to offer him not only my military, but a massive battalion of battle droids that I could make to my demand. In return for your annoyance, Lord Pitch gutted your master.”

    “Hans, this is cruel.” Anna said, tears forming in her eyes. “Stop this.”

    “Prince Hans, this has gone far enough.” Elsa pleaded. “What is it you want?”

    “What do I want?” Hans scoffed. Chuckling he told her, “Just your sister’s hand in marriage so I can have control of Arendelle.”

    “You can’t. Even if you were to marry my sister, which I’ll never allow, I am still Queen of Arendelle and I wouldn’t let you harm my people.”

    Laughing, Hans told her, “You think you can threaten me? I hold your people hostage! And as far as your control? Well, there’s already a plan for that!”

    Rapunzel gasped and nearly fell over when Eugene and Merida caught her.

    “Are you alright, missy?” Merida asked.

    With a shiver, Rapunzel said, “I’m cold.”

    Jack then sensed it, the cold and dark presence. Looking back out to the armada, he muttered to himself, “Pitch.”

    Everyone looked to see a massive Dreadnought approaching them.

    “Okay, time to leave!” Eugene shouted as he carefully let Merida take Rapunzel. He ran over to the pilot seat and positioned took the controls.

    “What are you doing?” Hiccup demanded.

    “Getting us out of here!” Eugene replied.

    Kristoff sat in the copilot seat and asked, “Need help?”

    “Wouldn’t hurt. Can you fly one of these?” Eugene asked.

    “I can fly almost anything. This is no problem.”

    With both men in place, they powered the engines and told the others to strap in. Firing the thrusters, Eugene turned the ship sharply away from the fleet. Kristoff began punching in co-ordinance and prepped the hyperdrive. Scanners showed that fighters were flying towards them, canons at the ready. Ion torpedoes locked onto them, Eugene fired the sublight thrusters to increase velocity.

    Punching in the controls, Kristoff told Eugene, “Hyperdrive’s ready!”

    “Punch it!”

    With one push of the throttle, the Hammerhead flew into hyperspace.

     

    One of the captains slowly approached Hans as he addressed his men. The captain removed his hat and cleared his throat. Hans turned to him and waited for the captain to speak.

    “Prince Hans, I’m afraid I have some bad news.” the captain nervously told him. “The ship has jumped into hyperspace. We have no track of them.”

    Not saying anything, Hans slowly walked over to him, looked him in the face and slapped him.

    “You idiot!” Hans snarled. “Find them, now!”

    “Calm yourself, Prince.” a voice entered the room, causing Hans to cower in fear. Everyone turned and saw a tall man in black approach them. He wore the same clothes as the man who Hans contacted earlier, except his hood was down, revealing a slender man with black, spiky hair slicked back, fiery eyes and pale gray skin. Through his smirk were sharp teeth. He told Hans, “They shall return in due time.”

    “Lord Pitch.” Hans stammered, bowing to him. “This failure will be remedied in short time.”

    “I have no doubt, my friend.” Pitch smuggly said as he walked over to an observation window. Looking out to Naboo, his smile widened and said, “This is only one system. Soon, we shall have more.” His smile faded, turned to Hans and ordered, “Ready me a ship. I’d like to land on the planet.”

    “Right away, my Lord.” Hans ordered his men to ready a ship and asked, “Shall I accompany you?”

    “That won’t be necessary. I have some unfinished business to attend to. I would like you to track our friends.”

    “Yes, my Lord.” Hans bowed and left for the command bridge and Pitch left for his ship.

 

* * *

 

     

    The forest was dark and quiet, save for the sounds of the night birds and the summer insects chirping. The air was warm and clear and the ground was soft beneath Pitch’s feet. He strolled through the forest as he walked through a stone pathway leading into a valley, leading into a closed in den. The den was complete with stone ledges and rock flooring and scattered about were small boulders. Look about at all of them, Pitch smiled.

    “So, you’ve returned to your people.” Pitch called out. “Why don’t you come out and face me?”

    The boulders trembled and all of them unraveled, revealing themselves to be a tribe of rock trolls. As Pitch sinisterly smirked at them, they all looked up at him in sheer terror. He slowly pulled a lightsaber from his clip and ignited it. The loud hissing and the red glow made all of the trolls draw back in fear.

    The sound of rolling stone drew everyone’s attention. Rolling up to Pitch through the crowd and up to Pitch, Grand Pabbie stood before the towering Sith and glared at him. The two stared into each others eyes, hatred in both.

    “Look how far you’ve fallen.” Pitch said, deactivating his lightsaber. He noticed the faded color and weary look the chieftain had. Pabbie wasn’t well and all knew. Pitch mocked him, “When I found you all those years ago, you had such energy, power, pride. Now look at you. A withering old man, a fossil of what had came before. You look pathetic.”

    Pabbie shook his head in disappointment, looked back up at Pitch and asked, “How did you find me?”

    Giving a chuckle, Pitch said, “Did you think I would just give up after you left me? After all that you taught me, hatred, anger, that I would just let you go and live in peace? I spent the past twenty years looking for you.”

    “Twenty years? Is that how long it’s been?” Pabbie asked. Throughout his years, he began to lose track of time. Noticing, he commented, “You haven’t aged a day, Pitch.”

    “You left me in the sands of Korriban. I searched every tomb and temple to learn about Dark Side. The Jedi didn’t collect as much as they hoped. It’s thanks to all of that, along with your training, that I slowed down my aging and prolonged my life. But now, all of my hard work is paying off. I just want to know why.”

    “I’m…I was a Sith myself, Pitch.” Pabbie’s words had sorrow and regret in them. He told Pitch, “For thousands of years, I made sure that the old ways weren’t forgotten. Then I found you. You were ambitious, maybe too ambitious. You became the very thing that destroyed the Sith in the first place. You wanted more than you deserved. I thought I’d remedy this mistake and leave you with the remains of a long dead ideology. I thought you’d remain there until the end of time.”

    “But I didn’t!” Pitch snarled. “I found my way off and I knew I needed to find you!”

    Pabbie looked about his tribe, looking at all the terrified faces staring at him. He looked back up to Pitch and requested, “Let them go. It’s me you want and with all that I taught you, let me at least have that.”

    “Pabbie, no!” one of the tribesmen begged.

    “It’s alright.” Pabbie assured him. “This is the way it must be.” He looked back up to Pitch, hope in his eyes. Much to his relief, Pitch gave a nod, letting everyone roll away, some crying before leaving. After a few moments, the valley was empty and silent.

    “Now, it’s just us.” Pabbie stated.

    “Yes.” Pitch hissed. He paced around his former master, Pabbie not even giving him a look. Pitch asked, “Why give it all up though? You had power no Jedi could match. You and I could have ruled the galaxy, but you gave it all up. Why?”

    “I’ve lived for too long to know that the power of the Sith has fallen many times over the centuries. We can have a single moment, but it slips through our fingers every time. I thought you were dead, and with my failing health, I’d hoped that the Sith would fade with me.”

    “But?”

    Pabbie paused then told him, “I sensed a darkness many years ago. I feared it was you, but it wasn’t as powerful.”

    Pitch stopped and looked down at Pabbie, asking, “A darkness?”

    “Yes.”

    “Who?”

    “I don’t know, but I know that you’ll seek them out.”

    Pitch said nothing, but he didn’t need to. Pabbie knew his apprentice all to well and knew that the slightest hint of the Dark Side would bring Pitch into a frenzy, like a wild animal to the smell of fresh blood. That was one of the reasons why Pabbie abandoned Pitch.

    Pitch reach out and sure enough, he was picking up a dark presence. He hissed, “Finally, more darkness.”

    However, instead of saying more, Pitch drew his lightsaber and ignited it. Pabbie didn’t look at him at all, he didn’t react in any way. Pitch raised his blade in both hands.

     

    “You won’t win.” Pabbie said.


	9. Chapter 8

    On board the corvette, Hiccup took control of the ship and put in new co ordinance. He thanked Eugene and Kristoff for getting them away from the armada and assured Eugene would be safe for his service.

    There was also the issue of a crying Anna sitting in one of the command chairs. Nobody except Elsa and Jack knew the circumstances, but seeing Hans siding with this army that engulfed their planet broke her heart. Elsa and Jack try to console her as Rapunzel knelt in front of her, trying to understand what was going on.

    “Anna, who was that man?” Rapunzel asked.

    Anna gasped and said through her sobs, “He was…He was my fiance.”

    Rapunzel gasped, placed a comforting hand on Anna’s knee and told her, “I’m so sorry! I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

    “How could I have been so stupid?” Anna sobbed. “I let all of this happen! I never would have agreed to his proposal if I knew what was going on!”

    “He would have done it either way.” Jack told her. “I’ve been looking for him for months and he was always one step ahead of me. Where ever he went, there was destruction.”

    “Well, you were right, Elsa.” Anna said, turning to her sister. “I shouldn’t have accepted his proposal since we just met today.”

    That caught everyone’s attention.

    “Wait, you got engaged to someone you just met that day?” Kristoff asked.

    “Yeah, well I-”

    “Hang on, you mean to tell me you got engaged to someone you just met that day?”

    “Yes, I-”

    “Not the smartest thing to do, lassy.” Merida commented.

    “Yeah, I mean Hiccup and I were together since we were teenagers before we got engaged.” Astrid told Anna.

    “Come on, everyone. Give her a break.” Rapunzel said, noticing Anna was getting more and more upset with each comment.

    “It still was far from the smartest thing to do.” Eugene commented, Rapunzel slapping him in the wrist.

    “Alright, that’s enough!” Elsa yelled. She took Anna’s hand and pulled her up from the chair. Her and Jack escorted her to the cockpit door and Elsa turned back to everyone. She said, “I’m on your side, but you never kick someone when they’re down.” Then her and Jack left with Anna, leaving those who scolded her to think over their actions.

    Jack and Elsa took Anna to the cargo hold where they could sit alone for a bit, let Anna relax and calm herself. Shortly, Rapunzel joins them, asking if she could sit next to her. Jack moved over and Rapunzel wrapped her arms around Anna to comfort her.

    Anna felt something rub against her cheek as she laid her head on Rapunzel’s shoulder. She looked down and saw Pascal nuzzling her. She smiled down at the small reptile, who smiled back. Looking around at everyone that sat with her and said, “Thank you. All of you.”

    Rubbing her shoulder, Elsa told her, “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”

    “Yeah, we’ll get Hans too.” Jack told her.

    Then, there was the sound of crates shifting about. Something was coming their way, something big. Out of the stacks of crates came the black Krayt Dragon. It looked down at them curiously, but Jack reached for his lightsaber. Sniffing their way, the dragon slowly approached them. Jack began to slowly unclipped his lightsaber when Rapunzel held her hand up at him.

    “Don’t. He’s just curious.” she whispered.

    “How can you tell?” he asked her.

    “I can see it in his eyes.” Rapunzel slowly stood up, the dragon tilting his head. She carefully walked towards it and it lowered its head to her and sniffed again. She slowly held her hand up and reached for it.

    “Rapunzel, be careful.” Elsa whispered.

    The dragon inched closer to Rapunzel. It finally reached her and it nuzzled his snout into her hand. Rapunzel brushed her fingers over the cold scales and the creature closed its eyes and purred.

    “You see?” she asked with a smile. “He’s friendly.”

    The rest stood up and went over to the dragon, curious about it. It looked over to Jack and sniffed his shirt, cuddling into his chest.

    “Hey, cut it out.” Jack chuckled.

    “Aw, you made a friend, Jack.” Elsa smiled as she rubbed the back of the dragon’s head. The dragon nuzzled into her hand and purred louder.

    “He’s so cute.” Anna giggled. “I wonder what his name is?”

    “Toothless.”

    Everyone turned and saw Hiccup standing in the doorway. He walked in, walking past everyone and up to Toothless and stroked his snout. The dragon then licked Hiccup in the face, the Mandalorian chuckling in response.

    “My clans use to hunt Krayt Dragons years ago.” Hiccup told everyone, not looking at them and going back to rubbing Toothless’ snout. “The only one we couldn’t get was a Night Fury. Then one day, I just happen to have clipped him. But I couldn’t kill him.” Hiccup then laid his forehead onto Toothless’, both of them closing their eyes. “We’ve been together ever since.”

    Anna walked next to him, look up at Toothless. She was amazed that such a fierce looking creature was tamed and being gentle with them. She then turned her attention to Hiccup, just as amazed by him. Here he was, a Mandalorian, a soldier of the most feared and dangerous race of people in the galaxy, was being so gentle with this creature.

    “You’re not like any Mandalorian I’ve ever heard of.” she said to him.

    Hiccup chuckled under his breath and looked to her. He told her, “Sometimes, you need to change your ways in order to survive. It’s better to just have other Mandalorians after us than to have half the galaxy.”

    As he spoke, Rapunzel could hear pain in Hiccups words. She felt inside him and could feel anger, hatred and hurt. Someone or something damaged him. Then she noticed his leg. His right leg, from the knee down, was mechanical.

    “What happened?” she asked, motioning to his leg.

    “What this?” Hiccup lifted his leg up and presented it to everyone. “This happened a while ago. I lost it in a battle against another dragon that attacked us all.”

    Rapunzel could sense that that wasn’t what was hurting Hiccup. He must have been thinking about whatever it was because she felt a flare in his emotions. With that, she knew that now wasn’t the time to talk about it.

    Clearing his throat, Hiccup told everyone, “I, uh, I just wanted to tell everyone that we’re heading for Nal Hutta.”

    “Nal Hutta?” Jack asked, a hint of disgust in his voice. “Why are we heading there?”

    “Nal Hutta’s a neutral system and it’s our best bet to hide for a bit.”

    “Why? What’s wrong with this Nal Hutta?” Rapunzel asked.

    Confused, Hiccup looked to her and asked, “Have you never heard of the Hutts?”

    “Um…no?”

    “Where’ve you been all your life?” Jack asked. “Locked in a tower or something?”

    “Yeah.” Rapunzel replied.

    Jack went wide eyed, but he remembered that Rapunzel was brought up by a Sith.

    Rapunzel cleared her throat and asked, “So, who or what are the Hutts?”

    “Gangsters, the worst kind.” Elsa told her, crossing her arms. She looked to Hiccup and asked, “Are you certain this is wise? Going to the homeworld of the most vile creatures in the galaxy?”

    “We’re going to land in a vast swampland that’s been abandoned since the time of the Old Republic. We won’t be near any of the Hutt settlements.”

    Elsa was still skeptical, but she had to trust Hiccup’s judgement. He knew more of the galaxy than she did.

    She then felt a nudge on her left shoulder. It was Toothless, nudging her to pet him. She chuckled and reached up and softly rubbed his snout. He pressed himself into her hand and purred. His scally skin was cool to the touch and she loved it. She always loved the cold. His eyes opened and he looked into hers, a gentle look to show a sign of trust.

     

    The ship came out of hyperspace over Nal Hutta. The putrid green planet showed vast swamplands and noxious air. It was a sickly sight and, suffice it to say, no one was pleased to be arriving here. The only reason they were landing here is that they needed to hide for the night so they could shake off anyone who could be following them. The ship descended down to the planet and flew over the large indigenous swamp, expanding for what seemed like forever. These lands belonged to ancient and long dead Hutts, but ever since the fall of the Old Republic and the fact that the most of the Hutts left the planet to do business on planets like Nar Shaddaa and Tattooine, these lands were retaken by the swamps. Luckily with the overgrowth, there were massive trees that grew high up. A cluster collapsed onto something that looked liked shipwrecked freighter, creating a natural camouflage for the ship to fly into and hide in. All external lights were off and the ship was shut down for only internal power.

    Everyone gathered in the sleeping quarters and Eugene gave everyone a load down on the sleeping arrangements, “Okay, the ladies are to get a full night’s sleep while us guys take turns one at a time for lookout every hour. I don’t start.”

    “I will.” Jack rolled his eyes, unclipping his lightsaber and flip tossed it.

    Anna climbed into her cot and shuffled herself to get comfortable. As she flipped over to see Kristoff standing over her, a blanket in his hand.

    “Hey, you okay?” he asked her. Holding the blanket out, he said, “There were only a few left so I figured you could use one.”

    Anna looked up at him, grateful but hesitant, and said, “But you’ll need one.”

    “Nah, I’m good. Besides,” He spread it out and laid it over her and said, “I think I owe you an apology.”

    “Apology for what?”

    “You know. Being a jerk earlier.”

    “Oh, well, it’s really no problem.”

    “Yeah, it really is.” He sat down next to her and said, “It’s really none of my business anyway.”

    Anna smiled at him and said, “It’s really nothing. Maybe you were right. I did rush into things.”

    “That doesn’t mean I get to kick you while you were down.”

    She folded her legs under her blanket, crossed her arms over her knees and place her chin on her arms. She asked him, “So Kristoff, what did you do on Naboo?”

    Looking off, he told, “I worked up the mountains mostly. I ran an ice business all over the galaxy, mostly Tattooine where I provided ice for the cooling vaporators for moisture farmers.”

    Feeling a twinge of guilt over the issue with his ship, hindering his business. She told him, “I’m sorry about your ship.”

    “Eh, don’t worry about it.”

    “It’s really no problem to replace your ship. It’s the least we can do after you and Eugene saved us earlier.”

    Nodding his head, Kristoff said, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, I do, but I’d rather earn my way.”

    He said no earlier and he was still adamant about it. Anna was amazed by this young man. He was offered a free ship and turned it down based off of merit. She actually admired him.


	10. Chapter 9

    Pitch returned to the flagship, satisfied with his task down on Naboo. He had hoped by now that their invasion expanded beyond Naboo like he hoped. Prince Hans and him shared the same ambition, hoping to expand their operations to control the entire quadrant, then the entire galaxy. It would have to be slow so as not to attract the attention of the Republic.

    But still, he needed to find the Queen and Princess of Arendelle. He needed them to convince the Republic to keep out of their affairs. If their invasion remained a secret, then there was more of a chance of the Sith returning with full, bombastic force. He needed to wait for the right moment, but it would be easier once the two were captured.

    He entered the bridge of the ship, Prince Hans was waiting for him.

    “Everything alright, my Lord?” Hans asked as Pitch walked next to him.

    “It is now.” Pitch said, walking past him and looking out the window to the vast sea of stars. “Have we located the Queen and Princess?”

    “I’ve sent out a tracker to find them. I’ve paid him handsomely for the capture of Anna and Elsa and to eradicate the others.”

    “Very good. Once we have those meddlesome pest out of the way, we’ll have no more problems.”

    “You certain about that?”

    The two men turned and saw sitting at an occupied computer monitor was Gothel, a bowl of berries and nuts in her hand while she picked at it.

    Drawing his blaster, Hans demanded, “How did you get here?”

    “Don’t worry about it.” Gothel crunched a nut between her teeth.

    Hans called for guards and two men came in with rifles. Gothel just glanced at them, not intimidated by them at all. She held her hand up, fingers pointing out at them. Just as they walked up to her, they were sent flying back, the sound of loud hissing and the flash of blue-violet lightning engulfed them. They crashed into the furthest wall of the bridge, everyone looking at her in astonishment and fear. Everyone, except Pitch.

    “Impressive.” Pitch muttered, eyes widened in amazement.

    “Thanks.” Gothel nonchalantly replied. Chewing a berry, she said, “I know of this plan of yours and I like it, except one thing.”

    Pitch looked down at her and asked, “And what would that be?”

    “I like the idea of killing everyone, except there’s one person aboard that ship that needs to stay alive. A girl with long golden hair named Rapunzel.”

    “What is she to you?”

    “She’s my ward, my apprentice.”

    Clearing his throat, Pitch told her, “I’m afraid I cannot allow that, as long as there is you and I.”

    “Oh? And why is that?” Gothel asked, mixing the contents of her bowl around in her hand.

    “You forget the unwritten law of the Sith? There can only be two. A-”

    “Yeah, yeah, there can only be two. A master and a blah blah blah. I get it.” Gothel was starting to get annoyed. Getting to her point, she told him, “Look, I have a remedy for this. I’ve been training Rapunzel in the standard teachings of the Force since she was a baby. I was getting ready to take her to the ruins of Dromund Kaas when I came back to find that she ran off. I was ready to teach her in the ways of the Dark Side, but now she’s out there with some…thief or smuggler. They’re on board that ship with the Queen and Princess. Kill him, but leave Rapunzel alive.”

    “And how do you plan on remedying this problem we have?” Pitch asked.

    “Spare Rapunzel and lock her away. You and I fight to the death and the winner will become her master.”

    Drawing his lightsaber and activating it, Pitch stormed over to Gothel and held the blade close to her neck. Gothel only tilted her head to keep the heat from searing her skin, not even looking down at the blade. He hissed to her, “Why don’t I just kill you now?”

    Gothel chuckled and replied, “I can read you like a book. You have power, but not like what I have. Although, you have strength that I don’t. You teach me, I teach you.”

    “I don’t need another teacher, I just killed one.”

    “The old troll?” Gothel mentioned Pabbie, making Pitch to pull back a bit, eyes widening in shock. Gothel smiled and ask, “You really think he only had one apprentice? He told me about you and how he left you on that rock Korriban.”

    Pitch tightened his grip on his lightsaber in anger, thinking about the day Pabbie left him on Korriban. It was the first time anyone ever abandoned him and the hatred never ended. What made him angrier was that Gothel was taught the power that was believed to have long been forgotten and she just demonstrated it with ease.

    Deactivating his lightsaber and standing up, Pitch said, “Very well, I accept.”

    Hans was weary of the agreement. Gothel just killed two of his men and with a mere exchange of words, Pitch just agreed to a deal that might end up killing him. Hans asked, “Um, my Lord? Do you think this is wise? I mean-”

    “Shut your mouth, Prince.” Pitch growled.

    Hans gulped and looked over to Gothel, who smirked at him. Hans was beginning to doubt this whole agreement.

* * *

 

    Jack sat in one of the pilot seats in the cockpit as he sat guard. He rolled his lightsaber hilt in his hands and glanced out into the dark swamp. He had never been to Nal Hutta before, nor had he any desire to. He had no love for the Hutts, hearing all about their depravity and the treatments they give their underlings, especially the women. He could almost smell the foul swamp air through the glass and it was nauseating, not surprising since this is the planet the Hutts came from.

    He wanted to bring his attention out of the negative and into the positive. He tried to remember all the traveling he did with Master North. He remembered all the amazing worlds they visited. His favorite, by far, had to have been Hoth. He always loved the cold and the snow. Hoth was a paradise for him, training on sunny days, the ice layers gleaming in the basking glow. After the nightly snow storms and the ice was covered in snow, he would lay down and make snow angels. He missed snowball fights with Masters Toothiana and Sanderson, the Wookies and Jawas, Master North joining in with them. In the early days of mastering his frost powers, he would cheat at these fights and form snowballs in his hands. As time went on and he had more mastering of his powers, he came to appreciate them even more and saw that they were a gift, but he still cheated.

    Then her face flashed in his mind. Elsa. Her smiling face appeared in his mind. That moment gave him goosebumps. He thought back to when he met her back on Naboo. He remembered all the pain she held back. He could remember how agonizing in was to him, for someone to feel so much pain. Now he knew why. She was locked away for most of her life, no friends, no family. That alone would drive anyone mad, he knew all to well.

    His mind went back to his master, only back to when he died. They finally caught up with Pitch on Musifar, hunting him after he killed all of their friends. They were surrounded by battle droids, but Jack and North held them back. When it was just the three of them, North fought Pitch alone, but Pitch was sneaky and nimble. North swung with his lightsaber and Pitch just leaped over it, landing behind him and piercing his heart from behind. Jack escaped, but was alone ever since.

    Elsa didn’t deserve that life. He could sense that she was healing from her loneliness, being around everyone and reuniting with Anna, but it still hurt him to know that she suffered this life.

    It was her powers. Everyone was afraid of them and they locked her up. As he thought about such a thing, he tightened his grip on his lightsaber. What she suffer angered him.

    But why?

    In the past, he would try to help anyone feeling pain, but here he wanted to protect Elsa. There was something different about her. It was more than her frost powers, it was a strange attraction to her.

    He thought through his time with her. She was the first person in three years that he became close with. He could sense an attraction from her to him, but this wasn’t the first time. It was however the first time he wanted to return the attraction. When she talked with him, he listened to her story with interest. After the passing of his friends, he had no interest in other people’s problems. This was the first time he actually listened to someone.

    A quiet gasp released from his lips when he realized the truth. He was infatuated with her. He was attracted to her beauty, her life, her everything. He never felt this way about anyone before.

    He pondered this realization when he heard someone enter the cockpit. Sensing who it was, he asked, “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

    Hiccup sat down in the chair next to him and said, “I can’t sleep know that lunatic has my people.”

    “Pitch won’t kill them.” Jack reassured Hiccup. “He’ll torture them, but he won’t kill them.”

    “Well, he’ll have to try pretty damn hard. Mandalorians have a very high tolerance for pain.”

    The two sat for a moment in silence.

    Tapping his lightsaber in his hand, Jack asked, “Alright, what’s on your mind?”

    Hiccup looked over at him and asked, “What do you mean?”

    “Something’s bugging you, I can sense it.”

    “Nothing’s bugging me.”

    “Really, then why do I sense a crap ton of sorrow from you? Talking about it will help.”

    Hiccup just shook his head and looked back out the window. Jack knew he wanted to talk. All he had to do was wait. Thankfully, it wasn’t long.

    “I’m just thinking about my dad is all.” Hiccup told him. Jack looked to him and listened, “He was killed a few months ago. We were attacked by a band of guerrilla mercenaries lead by a madman named Drago. My dad tried to fight him off so we could escape, but it cost him his life.”

    Jack once again thought about North, his life cut short. The pain Hiccup had in his voice mirrored the pain he was feeling all these years from losing the closest thing to a father he ever had.

    “I know that feeling.” Jack told Hiccup. “My master raised me and trained me. He left the Jedi Order because of me.”

    “Because of you?”

    “Yeah. When I was little, I was too rowdy for the Jedi to handle. The Jedi wanted to cast me out, but my master refused to leave me alone in the galaxy, so he gave up his place with them and took me across the galaxy.”

    Hiccup chuckled and said, “I like the sound of your master. Most Jedi I’ve met just seem too full of themselves.”

    “Yeah, they can be.” Jack smiled to Hiccup. “But, my master and I did just great on our own. We had some friends, of course, but we were all but father and son.”

    “I take it he died?”

    Jack lowered his head and said, “Yeah.”

    “This Pitch guy you mentioned?”

    Jack nodded.

    “Who is he?”

    Jack raised his head and said, “He was a Jedi Knight and my master’s former apprentice before me. Master North told me all about him. One day, he just vanished. It was three years ago that we found him again, only he turned to the Dark Side of the Force.”

    “How’s that possible?” Hiccup asked. “I though the Jedi collected and locked any trace of the Sith away.”

    “There are many ways for a Jedi to fall to the Dark Side. Keepers of the Peace, but we’re still imperfect. Hatred, anger, greed, jealousy, all natural emotions to sentient beings. There have been cases of Jedi turning to the Dark Side since the fall of the Empire, but they usually don’t last without proper training. With Pitch’s case, it’s different.”

    “How so?”

    “I can sense his hatred and anger, and it’s all being channeled properly. Someone trained him.”

    Hiccup took a moment and thought about what he was told about the Sith. Mandalorian history was also a part of Sith history. The Neo-Crusaders and the Sith were allies during the Old Republic, but as time went on, and after the formation of the Journeymen Protectors under Jaster Mereel, some clans distanced themselves from the Sith.

    That’s when he remembered, “There are always two, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice.”

    Jack nodded and asked, “Then who is the master and who is the apprentice?”

    “Let’s hope we find out.” Hiccup gave him a grin, Jack grinning back.

    The sound of the cockpit door hissing opening and the footsteps interrupted them, Merida’s thick accent calling out, “Okay Jackie boy, my turn unless you want stay up all night.”

    Jack yawned and said as he stood up, “Nah, all yours.”

    He walked to the door when he felt a chill up his spine. There was a presence nearby. He turned to look back out the window. Out into the dark of the swamp, he could barely make out the silhouette of someone, or something, moving in the swamp.

    “Quick, kill the lights!” Jack said, running between the seats Hiccup and Merida were sitting in, pressing the commands to shut the lights off.

    Merida and Hiccup stared at Jack for a moment, then looked out to see the shadow moving away from them and into the swamp deeper.

    “Someone’s out there.”


	11. Chapter 10

    The next morning, everyone was awake and gearing the ship up. Merida gave Rapunzel a rucksack to store her hair in and Astrid gave Elsa one of her disguise clothing so she wouldn’t go walking around in a regal dress. Anna was given a top and boots, but she wanted to keep her dress.

    Jack and Hiccup walked over to the spot where they saw the shadow last night. They found the footprints in the mud, walking out into the swamp. This indicated that it was indeed a person, but that was a problem. If they saw the ship last night, they could come looking for them or report them to Pitch’s army. They had to find them.

    Astrid and Elsa walked up to them and Astrid asked, “What’s wrong?”

    Hiccup looked to her and said, “There was someone out here last night. They could be with a threat.”

    “Or they could just live out here.” Elsa contravened. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Lets just get the ship ready for take off.”

    “We don’t know who it is.” Jack replied. “I get what you’re saying Elsa, but we have to cover all of our bases. For all we know, it could be a tracker that Pitch sent after us. They find us, we’re done for.”

    Elsa wanted to reply, but he was right. They didn’t know who it was and they very well could be a threat. She wanted to believe it was just a hermit, but even a hermit could be a threat. They could see a ship in the swamp and report it to someone, even Pitch. Still, she had to make sure nothing goes wrong.

    Hiccup looked to Astrid and said, “Get the ship ready. Jack and I will go into the swamp and find this person.”

    “I’m going with you.” Elsa interjected. Before Hiccup or Jack could protest, she told them, “The last thing we really need is more unnecessary attention. You two go out there half cocked and ready to fight, you just might cause more trouble. Someone needs to keep a cool head.”

    All three just looked at her. The tone in her voice solidify the fact that no matter what, she was going. Astrid just muttered that she was going to go back to the ship and the three began to walk off.

    “Hey, wait up!” Rapunzel and Merida ran up to the three. “We wanna come too.”

    "Yeah, I mean I saw it too.” Merida added. “It’ll take more than a Mando’a Vod, a Jedi and a wee queenie to navigate this sticky swamp.”

    Elsa was annoyed by Merida’s comment, like all she was was a helpless queen. Taking a moment away from her thoughts, she looked to Rapunzel and asked, “Are you sure you want to come with us? It might be dangerous.”

    “Oh I’m more than capable of handling myself.” Rapunzel proudly proclaimed. “Besides, this is the first world I’ve ever stepped out on. I wanna learn about it.”

    “It’s just a massive mud hole.” Hiccup told her. “The only thing interesting out here are wamp rats and gundarks.”

    “Oh, I’ve always wanted to see those!”

    Flabbergasted, Jack chuckled and asked, “You’re easily amused, aren’t you?”

    Rapunzel, smiling brightly, nodded her head.

    Groaning, Hiccup agreed to let the two follow them into the swamp. As they walked off, Jack asked Merida, “Shouldn’t Eugene be with Rapunzel?”

    “You’re kidding, right?” Merida asked. “The man’s got bounties on his head from here to Balmorra. The Hutts will gobble him up. He’s safe back at the ship.”

    Jack clicked his tongue in agreement.

    Everyone followed the tracks into the swamp, all alert and on edge. A swamp this vast could harbor all kind of creatures and obstacles. That’s not even to mention the amount of indigenous people that might be living in the swamp, including dangerous mercenaries. This is Nal Hutta after all.

    They came across a wide, slimy creek. The overgrowth over the creek was too thick, so thick that neither Jack or Rapunzel could leap over. Rapunzel pulled her hair out of her rucksack and lassoed it around a branch. Leaping up, she swung across the creek, cheering as she did so.

    The growth was too low for Merida and Hiccup to use their jetpacks so the opted to just cross on foot. However, Jack and Elsa stopped them and instead walked to the edge of the creek. They raised their hands up and, with an ice blast, created a bridge to cross. They crossed first, Jack taking Elsa’s hand to escort her gentlemanly. Merida and Hiccup looked at each other then rolled their eyes before crossing. Shortly afterwards, after all had crossed the creek, the sound of the bridge collapsing and splashing into the creeks went out. The swamp humidity was too much for it.

    “Well, looks like our ice powers have some disadvantages.” Jack commented.

    Nodding, Elsa looked up at him and said, “We might be in trouble if we need them.”

    “Don’t worry, queenie.” Merida said stepping forward, bowcaster in hand. “We’re armed to the teeth. We’ll protect ya.”

    Bemused, Elsa chuckled and said, “I appreciate, but I think I’m good.” She then looked up at Jack and the two smiled.

    Shrugging, Merida told her, “Oh well, your loss.”

    The five continued on, following the tracks into the swamp, Rapunzel taking up the rear. After a half an hour’s walk, she stopped dead in her tracks.

    “Uh, guys.” she called out. Everyone turned to her and she looked down. A wire was wrapped around her leg.

    “Don’t move.” Hiccup quietly warned and went to kneel down to look at the wire. Rapunzel lifted her leg slightly to show him, but the wire pulled on something. The two looked to see it connected to a small device nailed into the ground. It had a slight ring from it. Pulling a pair of cutters from his belt, he groaned, “I told you not to move. It’s armed now.”

    With everyone gathering around them, Merida asked, “Is it a landmine?”

    “No, it’s an alarm system.” Hiccup told her. He placed the cutters right over the wire and said, “The slightest tug could cause it to go off. I gotta time this perfectly.”

    “I’m so sorry!” Rapunzel hissed under her breath. She was going to continue, but she began to huff and sniff. She was about to sneeze.

    “Rapunzel, please stay calm!” Elsa begged.

    “I, uh.” Rapunzel groaned.

    “Hold still!” Hiccup hissed, trying to make sure she doesn’t even twitch.

    Rapunzel took a deep breath and was ready to release the sneeze, but both Merida and Elsa pinched her nose. After a moment, Rapunzel gave a sigh of relief. With the calmness, Hiccup snipped the wire, no tug at all. Everything was quiet and Merida and Elsa let Rapunzel go.

    Then Elsa gave a loud sneeze. It echoed through the swamp.

    Elsa covered her mouth and her eyes widened. Everyone looked about with weapons drawn and all encircled her. After a moment of only the sound of the swamp, a loud booming voice echoed out.

     

     **WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP???**

     

    “Let’s, uh…Let’s get back to the ship.” Hiccup commented and everyone began to turn back to the path to the ship.

    Suddenly a large arachnid creature loomed over the path.

    “What the hell is that?” Elsa shouted.

    “Swamp Spider!” Hiccup roared as he pulled his blasters out. “Kill it before it kills us!”

    Rapunzel activated her whipsaber and snapped it in the arachnid’s face, barely singeing it’s eyes. This enraged the creature and it gave a loud screech as it charged the group, all of them scattering. Elsa threw her hands out and tried to freeze its legs to the ground. But the humidity of the swamp was once again problematic. The one leg was stuck to the ground engulfed in ice, but the humidity kept the ice from staying solid and with one tug, the ice shattered. She gave another blast to its face, that damaged some eyes, but it still charged her.

    Jack leaped in front of her and waved his saberstaff in its face, causing it to jolt back. Jack spun his saberstaff around to push it back. With it distracted, Merida and Hiccup blasted it. However, the only damage it received was burnt hair, nothing to its exoskeleton.

    “What the hell?” Merida groaned. “How the hell do we stop this thing?”

    “It’s hide is too strong! We need a slugthrower!” Hiccup shouted, giving it another fruitless blast.

    Giving another spin, Jack sliced through one of its front legs. With seven other legs, it still charged him and he ran off towards the creek. He reached it and waited for it. As it grew closer, he leaped over it and gave it a gust to force it into the swampy waters. He landed and tired to freeze the water, but his powers were still lacking in the environment. It just climbed out of the water and went after him again.

    As the spider chased Jack, Rapunzel jumped in front of it and snapped her whip at it again. She snapped it several times in its face again, enraging it more. She then threw here hand out and a gust pushed it back more. Spinning herself around, she sliced through its other front leg, causing it to fall to the ground. Weakened, it staggered back up and tried to charge her.

    Elsa joined Rapunzel and gave the creature a stream of ice to the face. It didn’t do much damage, but it was slightly blinded. That didn’t come close to stopping it though. It still charged in the direction they were standing and they jumped out of the way. Rapunzel leaped up and swung her whip around and snapped a few lashes on its abdomen. It staggered around towards her and moved her direction. Merida blasted it on the side of the face with her bowcaster. She roared and shouted, “Come at me, you big ugly bastard!”

    Before the creature could give another charge, a loud bang rang out and the spider screeched in pain. Everyone looked over and saw a tall and massive man in armor holding a large, lever action slugthrower in both hands. He fired another shot and gave both both of them a spincock and fired more shots. Each slug pierced the spider’s hide and the wounds oozed green fluid. After a few shots, the spider panicked and scurried away into the swamp.

    Everyone relaxed and lowered their weapons, Jack and Rapunzel deactivating their sabers. The man twirled his guns and slipped them into his holsters.

    Sheathing his pistols, Hiccup turned and walked over to the man and greeted him, “Thank you so much. I don’t know what-”

    The man wrapped his hand around Hiccup’s arm and began to pulling back to the path, groaning under his helmet, “I live in a swamp, I put up signs, I’m a terrifying ogre! What do I have to do to get a little privacy?”

    With that, the man tossed Hiccup to the ground.

    “Hey, why did you do that?” Rapunzel demanded as her and Jack helped Hiccup to his feet. Everyone stood up to him and were ready to fight again.

    The man removed his helmet and revealed that he was indeed and ogre, an extremely angry one. Before anyone could say anything, he gave a loud roar in hopes to scare them off. It did startle them, but they just fought a large spider and that was far more terrifying. The only scary thing to all of them was his foul breath. After several seconds of roaring, he stopped and looked at them confused by the fact that they reacted the way they did.

    “What is your deal?” he asked them. “That usually sends people running.”

    “Too be honest, you’re not that scary.” Jack told him with a smirk.

    “Heh heh, very funny.” the ogre said as he pushed past them and started to walk off into the swamp.

    Hiccup removed his helmet and said, “Wait, I know who you are!”

    “Oh, goodie.” the ogre said sarcastically.

    “You’re Shrek, the winner of the Great Hunt thirty years ago.” Hiccup said. “You beat my father, Stoick ‘The Vast’ Haddock.”

    Shrek then stopped in his tracks. After a few moments, he turned to look at Hiccup. Hiccup looked up at him with a stern look, making Shrek chuckle a bit.

    “Yeah, I figured that Stoick would have a little hell spawn running around.” Shrek commented. Walking back down to Hiccup, Shrek stared him down and said, “You’re old man made my life a nightmare after that.”

    Hiccup replied, “Serves you right for cheating him.”

    “Cheating him? I cheated him? You know what Stoick did to me after the Great Hunt? He found every high ranking bounty in the galaxy before me! He couldn’t accept that I beat him! My biggest mistake in the Hunt was showing him an inkling of mercy and letting him live! Now I gotta do work for those thieving, lying, slimy, annoying Hutts! Tell him the next time you see him I hope he falls into a Sarlacc Pit!” Shrek then turned and was about to walk away again.

    “He’s dead.” Hiccup told him.

    Shrek stopped again and slowly turned back to Hiccup. However, instead of the mocking smile Hiccup was expecting, Shrek had a regretful look. Clearing his throat, Shrek said, “Sorry. Just a moment of impulse.”

    Hiccup looked down and softly nodded his head. Everyone looked about each other, all of them concerned.

    Looking back at Hiccup, Shrek asked, “What happened?”

    Looking up at Shrek, Hiccup told him, “He was killed by a mercenary named Drago.”

    “Wait, Drago? Drago Bludvist?” Shrek took a moment and shook his head, “That’s not possible.”

    “What do you mean?” Hiccup asked him.

    “Because he died during the Hunt. I trapped him in Bargov Pass on the New Alderaan Colony.”

    “Are you certain?”

    “I am. I lined the pass with explosives and I watched him trip the wire to set them off. No one could have survived that.”

    Hiccup turned to look at Merida. They both saw Drago kill Stoick with their own eyes. Shrek noticed this.

    “Maybe I made a mistake.” Shrek took a moment to think something over. After a moment, he said, “Come with me.”


	12. Chapter 11

    Pitch was meditating in his personal chamber, thinking over his past. It was many years ago when Pitch was a Jedi Padawan that was hoping for more in his life. He was extremely disappointed in the Jedi life and wanted more. One day, he came across Pabbie, or as he went by in those days, Darth Dagorus. He was a hermit living on Endor and he was using the Force to call to Pitch. He persuade him to turn to the Dark Side. After years of training, Pabbie took him to the remains of the long forgotten tombs of Korriban. Then, he was alone.

    That was many years ago and now here he was. With the help of his little puppet, Prince Hans, he was now slowly taking control of the small systems right on the edge of the Inner Rim. Soon, he was going to make his way to the Core and make his presence known. It was time for the Sith to return.

    The door opened and a liaison walked in. He said to Pitch, “My Lord, Prince Hans is requesting your presence.”

    “What is it?”

    “Someone wishes to join us.”

    Pitch opened his eyes, fiery with interest. He smirked and stood to leave.

    Waiting on the bridge was Hans, along with him was the older man back in Arendelle, the Duke. Pitch walked into the bridge and cleared his throat to make himself known and everyone looked to him.

    A protocol droid greeted, “Lord Pitch, may I introduce the Duke of Weaseltown.”

    “Weselton!” the Duke growled. Turning to Pitch, he calmly greeted, “Duke of Weselton, my Lord. I’ve come in hopes of an audience.”

    “I see.” Pitch said as he reached up and used the Force to pull a chair to his side. He sat down and asked, “Granted, now what is it you wish to discuss?”

    “Well, my Lord, my army is small, but I can guarantee that my men are highly trained. My settlement is small, you see, and we’re well know for our trade of spice and precious stones and metals. Many would love to get their hands on our wears and I highly recommend my soldiers be trained by the best.”

    “Trained by the best, eh? Can they handle Mandalorians?”

    “My Lord, Deathwatch has trained my finest in combat.”

    “I see.” Pitch took a moment to think, then asked, “Tell me, Duke. Why is it that you wish to join my ranks?”

    Fidgeting for a bit, the Duke answered, “Well, I just wish for my settlement to prosper. I would like-”

    “You don’t want your wears to be tampered with.” Pitch concurred. Softly nodding, Pitch said, “If your men are as good as you claim, done.”

    The Duke brightened up and said, “Oh, thank you, my Lord! You won’t regret this!”

    Pitch raised his hand, using the Force to cut off the Duke’s words, and warned, “I better not.”

    He let the Duke go and the man gasped for air. With that, he ordered the Duke to leave.

    Hans stood aside, looking at Pitch. This whole ordeal was starting to become extremely frustrating. All he wanted was control of several systems and thought that Pitch could help, but now Pitch’s goals were starting to become extremely out of control. First, Pitch agreed to this ridiculous agreement with that witch. Pitch is now putting his life on the line to keep his silly Sith ideology going. Now he was allowing this womp rat in on their agreement.

    Hans knew about the Duke, knowing that he was a double dealer and wasn’t afraid to put his own people on the line. There were rumors going around that the Duke was being invaded by Trandoshan pirates and that the villages of Weselton were left defenseless. He drew all his troops back and had them guarded himself and himself alone. The Duke was all about himself and no one else. He craved power and Hans knew that the Duke would stop at nothing to get it. He could only hope that Pitch would recognize it sooner rather than later.

* * *

 

    “So what made you think Drago was dead?” Hiccup asked Shrek as they trekked through the swamp, the others in tow.

    “My very first hunt, I used the same method to kill a high ranking diplomat. Somehow, he escaped.” Shrek explained. “Ever since, I always made sure my target was taken care of. All I found of Drago was his arm.”

    “He was missing an arm!” Merida called out from the back of the group. “Maybe you should try a different method since this keeps failing!”

    “I never said it was fool proof!” Shrek groaned, completely forgetting that he stated that no one could escape the trap earlier. He lead them to the edge of a large gully, the water streaming along an old rundown cottage. “Well, it’s not much, but it’s home.”

    Elsa walked next to him and commented, “It actually like kind of cozy, given the environment.”

    “Yeah, beats the tower I was raised in.” Rapunzel added.

    “Well, thanks.” Shrek said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. They all walked down through the gully and into Shrek’s cottage. Despite the crudeness, it was well furnished and organized. There were also trophies on the wall of various creatures across the galaxy. Shrek clearly got around. He opened a cabinet in his living room and started fumbling around in it. He told Hiccup, “When I faced your old man in the Great Hunt, instead of taking his life, I took the one thing he treasured the most. Now, where is it-Ah! Here it is.”

    Shrek pulled a small wooden box out and presented it to Hiccup. Hiccup took it and looked up at Shrek in a confused gaze. Shrek shrugged and told him to open it. Hiccup looked down at the box and slowly opened it and when he saw what was inside, he gasped.

    “This…this is…” Hiccup muttered.

    “I haven’t touched that thing since I took it from your dad.” Shrek told him. “My greatest trophy, but I think it’s best to have it back in the hands of a Mandalorian.”

    Hiccup reached in and picked up a thin, metallic object. It looked like a lightsaber, but it was more crude and simple. Hiccup placed the box on the table next to him and took the object in both hands, then activated it. The blade was more sword like than a usual lightsaber, like a single side. Instead of the usual white beam, it was black with a white aura around it. Hiccup took a deep breath as he raised it up in his hand.

    Jack stood in astonishment as he looked upon the blade. He muttered to himself, “The darksaber.”

    “The what?” Rapunzel asked.

    “The darksaber.” Jack repeated. “It was created by the first Mandalorian Jedi, Tarre Vizsla.”

    “And it can only be handed down through the Vizsla Clan.” Hiccup added, lowering the blade and deactivating it. He looked up at Shrek, pointed the hilt at him and said, “You had no right to take it.”

    Getting defensive, Shrek told him, “Hey kid, when you best a Mandalorian, you keep a trophy. Remember Revan and the Mandalore’s Mask?”

    “That was different! You stole a treasure of my bloodline!”

    “I earned it kid, but now I’m giving it back. Be thankful.”

    Hiccup wanted to argue, but Shrek was right. He may have stolen the darksaber years ago, but now it was back in his hands. His father told him all about, but told Hiccup that it was lost. Not that he lost it or it was stolen, just lost.

    But he was holding it in his hands. He felt his heritage jolt through him from the saber. Thousands of years of history of the Mandalorian people were in his palm. He tightened his grip on it. It was his family’s heirloom, now it was back in his hands.

    Taking a breath, Hiccup said, “Thank you. I’m still mad, but thank you.”

    “Don’t sweat it kid.” Shrek told him. “And don’t thank that I care if you’re mad. I’m only giving it back because you need it. I remember something Drago said.”

    “What did he say?” Merida asked.

    “He said he was looking for a metal stronger than beskar. He had this crazy idea of besting the Mandalorians at their own game. If he’s still alive and if he’s as crazy as I remember him, he’ll actually get what he set out to do.”

    “And you think this’ll help?” Hiccup ask, holding up the darksaber.

    “Yeah, that thing will cut through almost anything. Beskar being one.” Shrek went over and sat down in his chair. Pouring a rather rancid looking drink and taking a large swig, Shrek told the group, “When I first met Drago, he was quiet, but we teamed up on a few hunts in our younger years. It wasn’t until I actually worked with him was when I realized how much of a lunatic he was. We had a mark to hunt on the New Alderaan Colony, a political prisoner that was wanted alive for information by the Republic Communications Unit. A wealthy and benevolent family was harboring him and we needed to get in and out without any trouble. Drago, well…he had other ideas.”

    With Rapunzel next to her, Elsa walked up to him and asked, “What happened?”

    Looking up at the two, a hurt look in his eyes, he said, “Drago said, ‘We outta smoke them out’. I though he meant smoke bombs. Instead, he fired up his flame thrower and began to burn the entire compound down. The mark came out, but so did the family. He rounded them up and locked them in a storage hut and set it on fire.”

    Elsa and Rapunzel gasped in horror. Jack gulped at the very thought of a family being burned alive. Merida, disgusted by the act, tightened her grip and punched the wall.

    Hiccup just stood, almost still with no emotion. He may be a Mandalorian, but if there was one thing he would not stand for was the senseless act of of cold-blooded murder. He knew how dangerous Drago Bludvist was, but he couldn’t imagine how sadistic he truly was. He witness the murder of his own father at the hands of the mercenary, but his father went down fighting.

    Hiccup looked down at the darksaber. He vowed vengeance, not just for his father, but for all of those who fell to Drago’s insanity.

    “Thank you again.” Hiccup repeated. “We won’t bother you anymore. We’ll be leaving.”

    As everyone was about to leave, Shrek called out, “I never got your name, kid.”

    Hiccup turned back and told him, “My name is Hiccup. Hiccup ‘The Horrendous’ Haddick.”

    “I’ll remember that.” Shrek said, bringing the cup to his lips. Before he took a sip, he said, “I’m sure you’ll do your old man proud. Once you beat Drago, let’s have a competition.”

    Hiccup said nothing, just slipped his helmet on and turned to leave, clipping the darksaber to his belt.

    Back at the ship, Anna and Kristoff were playing with Toothless, playing fetch with him. Eugene was just lounging around on the hull of the ship and Astrid was standing watch for everyone. She caught everyone coming back over the ridge, all looking a little worst for wear. She ran up to the group and went up to Hiccup. She asked him, “Are you guys okay?”

    “Yeah, just a run in with a swamp spider.” Hiccup told her. The two smiled at each other when she noticed the darksaber clipped to his belt. She had heard about it, but to see it was, for a lack of better word, mind-numbing. Not wanting to stay in this swamp any longer, Hiccup told her, “I’ll tell you later. Did you get in contact with anyone?”

    Drawing herself away from the blade, Astrid looked up at him and said, “Uh, yeah. Your mother said she’ll meet up with us on Hoth.”

    “Good, let’s head out. I don’t want to stay in this humid mess any longer.”

    Everyone agreed with Hiccup and they all gathered the rest and entered the ship. After a moment of gearing up, the ship turned on and took off out of the swamp and into the sky.

* * *

 

    Kristoff's ship still hovered about in space, the life support and power all shut down. Another ship observed it in the distance, a large Doomtreader that was colored in a dark green. In the cockpit, the pilot, armored in black plates that looked like they were comprised of rough leather and a fearsome helmet with long dark dreadlocks hanging out under it. His left arm was mechanical and massive. With his good arm, he punched in the communication links and a hologram of Hans appeared.

    “What have you got?” Hans asked.

    “I found the ship, but it’s derelict.” The man said in a deep, throaty voice. “There’s an ion trail leading away. I’ll follow it.”

    “Good. Remember, I need the princess, the queen and the girl alive. This is important, Drago.”

    “Yeah.” he replied with a growl and cut the link. With a thrust of the throttle, Drago’s ship flew off into space.


	13. Chapter 12

    Gothel watched in amusement as Pitch attempted to conduct lightning, to no avail. She felt his rage rise with each failed attempt and not even effecting him in the slightest. He already began to train her and she was succeeding while he was failing more and more. She couldn’t believe that this was the one person that her master left on Korriban to die because Pitch is, as the old troll once put it, “The most unstable student he had ever had”.

    It’s true, Pitch wasn’t anything that Gothel couldn’t handle. Though she felt his rage, it wasn’t at all what she was expecting. The way her master described him, he had the rage of a million Sith masters from the olden times, the days of the Old Republic, yet here he stood, unable to use his rage to create one of the long lost techniques of the Dark Side. She just scoffed.

    Pitch heard her. He was angry enough already, but the fact that she was mocking him enraged him more. He felt his blood boil, his ears ring and the air become thin. His skin tingled in his rage, his vision went blurry, his lips dried but his mouth frothed and his knees turned to jelly. He tried and tried again, he knew he could conduct the the energy, but no matter what he did, he could muster the power. His Sith companion stood and watched for hours as he tried to strike a training droid that stood before them, lifeless and almost waiting for its demise. Now she was scoffing him. He held back his roar of rage, feeling pressure build within himself. Any more and his heart could possibly burst.

    Then he felt his fingertips prickle, feeling as though his fingernails were digging into his flesh. He reached his arms back then threw his hands forward. This time, a black aura sparked from his fingers and lightning bolts with black aura reached across the room and engulfed the droid. The droid shocked and trembled under the shock, screaming in agony. Droids weren’t suppose to feel pain, but this one screamed as though it were a human being disemboweled alive. As he electrocuted the droid, Pitch roared loudly. After a moment, his roar turned to a terrifying laughter. After what seemed like forever, Pitch relaxed himself and stopped the lightning. The droid fell to the ground, smoking and its metal exterior melting and bubbling. One could even imagine what its interior was like.

    Gothel could only stand wide eyed and slack jawed. Moments ago, Pitch could hardly conjure a spark, now he was releasing black lightning, a feat unheard of in the pages of the history of the Sith. In the manuscripts that she read, she learned that Dark Side lightning was usually either blue or purple, occasionally red, but never had she ever heard of black lightning.

     _What could it possibly mean?_  She asked herself.

    Pitch breathed heavily and smiled with twisted satisfaction. He must have been weakened because he was wobbling to try and keep on his feet. After taking a moment to catch his momentum, she staggered to stand up straight. When he did, he ran his hand across his hair and took a breath through his nose. He turned to face Gothel, a smile on his face, calmer but still sinister.

    “Scoff at me, will you?” he asked her. He held his hand up to her and reached out with the Force, wrapping his ghostly grip around her throat. She tried to fight back, but he was stronger. He told her, “You’re blinded by your ego. You think yourself stronger than me, but I could crush you like a bug.” He threw his hand down and Gothel gasped for air. He told her, “But I will honor our agreement. You will have your chance to prove yourself, not that you really have the power to beat me. I will beat you, and the girl will be my student. Remember, there can be only two.”

    Gothel said nothing as she glared at him. She knew that there was no chance of beating him. He truly was powerful, but she had her own card to play.

     

    Rapunzel.

     

    Pitch had no one to side with him in the Dark Side, she had Rapunzel. She may not be trained in the Dark Side, but she is powerful in the Force. Gothel knew that if she found her apprentice first, she could at least have a chance. She just needed to find her.

 

* * *

    

    The Duke strolled through the ship, admiring the army Pitch had acquired. He turned the corner and came face to face with Prince Hans. The Prince said nothing as he grabbed the Duke by his jacket and pulled him into a nearby corridor. Slamming the older man again the wall, Hans growled, “Don’t think that I don’t know you, Duke! I know how much of a double dealing cur that you are!”

    Glaring into the Prince’s eyes, the Duke hissed, “Take your hands off of me.”

    The Duke slapped Hans’ hand off of him and the two men glared hatefully at each other.

    Taking a breath, Hans told the older man, “I’ve worked too hard to get where I am. I’ve spilled a lot of blood to secure my place in the upcoming empire. Don’t think you can just worm your way into Lord Pitch’s graces. I’ve killed Jedi to prove my worth.”

    The Duke said nothing, just smirked and scoffed before sliding away. Hans watched him walk away, tightening his jaw in anger. There was no way he was going to lose this fight. He already had a plan to kill Queen Elsa upon her signing control of Naboo over to him, but he was going to turn her head into a desk decoration for the Dark Lord. One way or another, Hans was going to make sure that he had no competition.

     

    The Hammerhead flew through hyperspace towards the famous ice planet, Hoth. On board, there was a slight tension in the air. Elsa was sitting in the cargo bay, wanting to be alone. She couldn’t stop thinking about her people. Not just Arendelle, but all of Naboo. Once again, they were under a totalitarian rule, something that hasn’t happened since before the Clone Wars, but it’s happened again. Now, there was no word about what’s been happening so there’s a chance that the Republic doesn’t even know. Pitch and Hans must have gained control of the surrounding systems because they would have instantly contacted the capital and help would have arrived, but so far there hasn’t even been an inkling of any news from Naboo. Elsa feared the worst.

    But there was something else bothering her. She looked over to watch Rapunzel and Eugene talking and laughing together. That was cute in her mind, but she couldn’t help but draw her eyes to Rapunzel’s rucksack, to which contained the crown. She knew it all to well, remembering her parents taking her to the neighboring city of Corona, where her cousin was kidnapped when she was just a little baby. Yet here it was, far away from Corona and in the hands of this young woman, who clearly has no idea of it significance. Elsa thought about all the baby pictures that her aunt and uncle had of their long lost daughter and wondered what her cousin would have thought about this situation.

    Then a revelation hit Elsa. As she thought over the images of her cousin as a baby, it started dawn on her. Her cousin had green eyes, just like Rapunzel. Even in infancy, her cousin had long golden hair that shimmered just like Rapunzel’s.

     _It can’t be!_  Elsa said to herself. _It’s impossible!_

    “Elsa, are you okay?” Anna asked, walking up to her. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

    Elsa looked back and forth between Rapunzel and Anna. Anna noticed this and asked Elsa what was going on and Elsa asked, “Anna, do you remember our cousin from Corona? The one who was kidnapped when we were little?”

    Confused at first, Anna asked her, “I do, but why?”

    “Anna,” Elsa looked back over at Rapunzel for a moment, then back to Anna. “I think Rapunzel is our cousin.”

    Anna looked right over to Rapunzel, scanning her features. After taking a moment to compare her to the mental images of her lost cousin, she covered her mouth and gasped quietly. She whispered, “Oh gosh! It’s really her!”

    “Anna, hush!” Elsa hissed as she took her sister’s hands and pulled her to sit next to her. She looked back to make sure that neither Rapunzel or Eugene heard them. She told Anna, “We can’t be too sure yet.”

    “But Elsa, she looks just like her!” Anna quietly exclaimed. “I mean the hair it a clear giveaway!”

    Elsa looked at Rapunzel’s hair and knew that it was indeed a dead giveaway. Rapunzel was her lost cousin. She muttered, “It is her. Of all the events that happened in our lives, this one brought her back.”

    “Well you know what they say, ‘The Force moves in mysterious ways’.” Anna said excitingly. She looked at Rapunzel and asked, “Should we tell her?”

    “?I don’t think so. Not yet, at least.” Elsa said as she turned back to Anna. “She must have so much going on in her mind right now, another blow like this could unravel her even more. We’ll let her when the time is right, okay?”

    Anna nodded in agreement. There was, however, another thing on her mind, thing one question Anna had on her mind. She asked Elsa, “So, what happened back in the swamp?”

    “Such as?”

    “Like why all of you were covered in mud?”

    “Oh, well. We came across a massive spider in the swamp.”

    “You what?” Anna gasped.

    “It’s okay. We got out alive, didn’t we?”

    “You mean you fought an actual a swamp spider?”

    “We did, why?”

    “Elsa, that’s amazing!”

    “Anna, we almost died out there.”

    “But you fought a live swamp spider!”

    “Anna, relax.” Elsa chuckled. “I’m glad you think us nearly dying is exciting to you.”

    “It’s not that. You, Elsa, actually fought a swamp spider. Elsa, that’s amazing.”

    Elsa missed this so much. The fact that her story excited Anna like this brought back so many terrific memories. She was ready to make their future together much better, to make up for all the years they lost.

     

    First, they needed to save their people.

 

* * *

    

    In their personal quarters, Hiccup and Astrid were sitting on their bed, Hiccup holding the darksaber in his hand. Astrid was resting her head on his shoulder and looked down at hilt, remembering all the tales of the Vizsla clan and their treasure. Everyone knew of the legendary clan and that the Haddock clan were their descendants. Now, they sat together with Hiccup’s birthright in his hands, back in the hands of its rightful owner.

    After a while, Astrid chuckled. Hiccup looked down at her and asked, “What’s so funny?”

    “All this time, while everyone was looking for it, and that ogre had it this whole time.” Astid said.

    Hiccup snickered and rested his head on top of hers. Gripping it, he told her, “I’m gonna make sure that this will never leave my family’s hands again.”

    Smiling, Astrid told him, “You don’t need it, you know. You’re amazing just the way you are.”

    Hiccup kissed the top of her head and said, “Once this job is over, I’m taking you to Scarif and you and I can get married on the beach.”

    Laughing, Astrid said to him, “That is the corniest thing you could think of. I love it.”

    The two laid down and held each other, hoping that their trip to Hoth is a long trip.


End file.
